Into the Flames
by Vampy Kitten
Summary: A village that despises him. A sensei that ignores him. Teammates who abandon him. Where will Naruto turn as things grow worse? /NaruHina, Standard Disclaimer/
1. Overlooked

As Naruto walked through the village with his teammates, he pretended not to notice the glares from the villagers. He kept up his happy idiot mask, but that was not the true Naruto. The true Naruto only came out when he was with his best friend Hyuuga Hinata. She was having troubles with her clan when one day they met up, and decided to train together to become stronger.

_-Flashback-_

_Naruto was sitting on a park bench resting from the preliminary exams. Naruto had qualified, but when he asked Kakashi to train him, he dumped Naruto for Sasuke._

_'Some sensei,' Naruto thought. He heard a rustle in the bushes behind him._

_"Who's there?" Naruto questioned, standing with a few kunai in hand. A small 'eep!' was heard, and Hinata tumbled out from behind the tree._

_"Ah, gomen, Hinata-chan, I didn't know it was you," Naruto apologized, stowing the kunai._

_'He...called me...Hinata-chan,' Hinata thought. She then proceeded to faint. Naruto jumped forward and caught her before she hit the ground._

_'I'd better take her back to her house. Damn, I don't know where she lives! Uh, I better take her somewhere safe...Aha! I'll take her to my house! I hope she doesn't mind,' Naruto thought. Her picked the heiress up and walked back to his house, making sure to stay in the shadows._

_About an hour later, Hinata awoke._

_'Shouldn't I be in the hospital…Oh yeah, father came and lectured me about 'how much of a disgrace I was,' and I decided to sneak out…the only question is, where am I?' Hinata wondered._

_"Ah, so you finally decided to wake up," Naruto said. Hinata blushed._

_'That's right. I fainted. Naruto-kun must have taken me to his house.'_

_"A-Arigato, Naruto-kun. I didn't...mean to spy on y-you, but I couldn't help but notice that you were sad. Anything wrong?" Hinata asked._

_"Yeah, I asked Kakashi-baka to train me and he dumped my training on that pervert Ebisu, deciding to train his favorite student instead. I just hope I can beat your cousin," Naruto explained._

_"W-Well, maybe I could...maybe I could...help you?" Hinata suggested._

_"Really? You'd do that? Thanks a bunch Hinata-chan!" Naruto hugged her._

_'Naruto-kun...hugging...me...' was all Hinata thought before passing out. When she woke up, Hinata saw Naruto waiting beside her._

_"Okay, promise me you won't faint? And we seriously have to work on you stuttering," Naruto said._

_"W-Well, if I am changing, you n-need to get rid of t-that horrid jumpsuit," Hinata replied._

_"But, this is all the store-keepers would sell me. I can't buy anything else. Plus, I like orange," Naruto mentioned. Hinata giggled._

_"Naruto-kun, ever heard of henge?" Hinata inquired._

_"Wow I'm an idiot. C'mon Hinata-chan, let's go!" Naruto practically yelled, pulling Hinata out the door._

_"Remember, the henge!" Hinata whispered to Naruto._

_"Right," he whispered back. One second and a puff of smoke later, Naruto had transformed into a nondescript teenage boy with brown eyes and hair. They walked into a shinobi supply store._

_"Hello young sir, what may I do for you?" asked the storekeeper. Naruto mentally frowned. If he had walked into the store like that, the owner would've either thrown him out or yelled at him harshly._

_"I'd like to buy some clothes please," Naruto said, pushing away the thoughts._

_"Right this way."_

_Naruto tried on outfit after outfit until he found the one he liked._

_"I-It looks good on you...uh...Nakamura-kun," Hinata said._

_Naruto had settled on a black t-shirt with the Uzumaki spiral on the back, black cargo pants with orange accents, and a black cloak with long sleeves, a hood, and hidden pockets to tie it all off._

_"Hi…Hikari-chan, we have to get something for you too," Naruto insisted, fumbling Hinata's name._

_"W-Well, okay..." She also tried on outfits, and found one that she liked._

_Hinata stepped out in a loose black t-shirt with fishnet underneath reaching her wrists, wrist-length gloves with metal plates on the back, black cargo pants, and a hooded tan cloak with wrist-length sleeves._

_"Is that all for today?" asked the storekeeper._

_"Yes. We'll need two sets of each out fit, please," Naruto asked. The man handed over their clothing. After they paid, Naruto and Hinata slipped into one of the pairs._

_"Thank you!" he said as they walked out the door._

_"Next stop, the weapons shop. Hikari-chan, we have to get a main weapon," Naruto said._

_"'Mura-kun, we don't even know how to wield these weapons," Hinata giggled._

_"True, but I'm sure some of the scrolls in the Hokage Library know." They continued on their way to Konoha Weapons, the villages primary weapons shop._

_"Ohayo, how may I help you?" asked the storekeeper._

_"Yes, we were going to look around for a weapon for each of us," Hinata said._

_"Go ahead, take your time," the old man said._

_Naruto and Hinata walked around until they found what they were looking for. There on the display shelf sat twin swords. One was a sliver blade with a black hilt and the kanji for death on the hilt in a white sheath, and the other was a silver blade with a white hilt and the kanji for life in black on the hilt in a black sheath. Naruto and Hinata were immediately drawn to them. They picked up a blade each, Hinata the life katana, and Naruto the death katana._

_"Ah, so you like those. These are the twin swords Ikioi and Takai. They are the finest made, but seeing as you are the only two that have been able to even touch them since they were brought here, I'll give you them for free," the old man said kindly._

_"What? No, we couldn't..." Naruto replied._

_"Nonsense. I insist." Naruto strapped his katana to his lower back and Hinata strapped hers diagonally across her back._

_"Thank you, kind sir!" Hinata shouted after him as they left._

_-End Flashback-_

Since then, the duo always trained together in a secluded clearing near the Hokage mansion. The Sandaime and Godaime both allowed them to use it. Naruto stole scrolls from the restricted section in the library every now and then. Seeing as he was the hated 'demon boy,' no one ever let him in there. Now, six months later, the two wielded the katanas will some skill, had quite a few jutsu in their arsenal, had learned many seals, and were masters of stealth and deception.

On the outside, Hinata was a shy nobody, a weak heiress, and Naruto was a happy-go-lucky idiot who didn't take anything seriously and was extremely dense. Hinata had perfect chakra control, and she took to learning medical jutsu. Naruto had average control, and constantly trained to get it to perfection.

Naruto was not as dense in reality as people thought, and he noticed that Hinata obviously had affections for him. He accepted them when she confessed one day, and even returned her feelings, but they had to hide their relationship, for fear of the village, or even worse, enemies finding it out.

Yet, neither could predict what would happen one day on the way back from the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. The entire village began to scorn Naruto for losing their 'precious Uchiha,' and Sakura and Ino openly insulted him in public. Once, Hinata almost lost her cover. She overheard the two trash-talking Naruto, and struck both in the neck. She had disabled their voice boxes, something that would take at least a few months to heal.

One night, Naruto and Hinata finally had it. Hiashi was belittling Hinata again, so she snapped. Thankfully, she didn't show him anything, but she did go to Naruto immediately. When she arrived sobbing at Naruto's door, Naruto took her inside and sealed the room with a sound seal.

"What's the matter, 'Nata-chan?" he asked.

"Nothing, 'Ruto-kun. It's just, father is doing it again, and I've had it. I want to leave here. Don't you see how the villagers are treating you, how can you bear it? I...I want to leave the village," Hinata explained. Naruto sat back.

"I'll send a clone to inform Tsunade-sama about our plans. However, if we really are leaving the village, we'll be marked missing-nins," Naruto said.

"We could use henge…no, that would easily be dispelled…" Hinata thought aloud.

"What if we used hair dye and contacts? There is no chakra involved, so we would look normal," Naruto suggested.

"What about your whisker marks? I could use a bit of makeup to cover them up."

"Do you really have to?" Naruto whined.

"Yes Naruto-kun," Hinata said, giggling.

Hinata then went out to get the supplies. When she returned, Tsunade had given Naruto word via his clone dispelling.

"Tsunade said yes, 'Nata-chan."

Hinata was the first in the bathroom, showering and dyeing her hair darker than it already was. It no longer shone purple in the sunlight, which Naruto was sad about, but was as black as night. She put in deep blue contacts to cover her Byakugan eyes.

Stepping in after Hinata, Naruto dyed his hair a chocolate brown. He had told Hinata to purchase green contacts, which he used to cover his cerulean eyes. When he came out, Hinata used makeup to cover his marks.

They began packing everything they would need, from food to weapons to clothes to the hair dye that they would continually need. Naruto and Hinata slipped the scrolls into the hidden pockets in their cloaks. They each used a seal on themselves that would cloak their chakra signature. Hinata then sprayed a mist that would cover their scents for a few days, something she designed especially when she was on her squad with Kiba and Shino. They pulled on up their hoods and hopped the wall easily. Rain poured hard around them.

As soon as they were out of the gates, Naruto and Hinata looked back at the village they had grown up in for the last time. Hinata then remembered the Hyuuga necklace on her neck.

_I don't want to be tied to that damned clan any longer! _Hinata thought with a growl as she ripped the necklace from her neck. It plunged to the ground, landing in the mud, as Hinata and Naruto sped off through the trees.


	2. Family Tree

Naruto and Hinata traveled for a night and a day before stopping to rest.

"Naruto-kun, where are we going to go? We've already passed the border of Fire, so where now?" Hinata asked.

"Hm, I don't know. For know, let's just get to sleep, okay?" Hinata pitched the tent and they unsealed their sleeping bags and went to sleep.

Mean while, Tsunade was up late doing paperwork.

_Damn it, paperwork, the bane of my existence. Why? Why? _Tsunade thought, as she signed sheet after sheet of paper. A scroll fell from one of the piles on her desk. She immediately spotted the Namikaze and Uzumaki crests and a complex blood seal.

_Hm, seems this should have gone with Naruto. I'll send a slug to him. Hopefully Tsukai will be able to find them._

She performed the seals for her summoning, and a slug poofed into existence on her desk.

"Tsukai, I need you to bring this to Naruto and Hinata. It is urgent, so I chose you, since you are the fastest slug," Tsunade said.

"As you wish, Tsunade-sama," Tsukai replied. She took the scroll in her mouth and slithered out.

The next morning, a slimy feeling on her cheek awakened Hinata. As she opened her eyes, Hinata almost screamed at the slug looming over her. A scroll dropped out of its mouth.

"This is from Tsunade-sama," Tsukai said.

"Arigato..." Hinata trailed off.

"Oh, forgive me, my name is Tsukai."

"Then arigato Tsukai." Tsukai poofed away.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, stirring him from his sleep. "This came from Tsunade-sama."

Naruto rubbed his eyes and sat up. He took the scroll and examined it.

"Blood seal. Seems someone of Uzumaki blood needs to open it. I don't know what clan the other crest is for though," Naruto determined.

He sliced his finger and dripped a bit of blood on the seal before the wound sizzled and closed up. The blood seal shimmered gold and disappeared. Naruto unrolled the scroll, and began reading it.

_'Dear Naruto,_

_If you are reading this, you are either a jonin, have been banished by the council, or have left the village. Most likely the latter. I was no fool; the villagers have a one-track mind and would not realize that you were not the Kyuubi if it bit them. That is why I wrote this scroll with instructions for it to be given to you. Now, you may be wondering who I am. I, Naruto, am your father, Minato Namikaze. Yes, I sealed the Kyuubi into you, but what choice did I have? I could not ask for another parent to simply hand over their child, now could I? I am extremely sorry, which is why I asked Jiraiya and Kakashi to look over you. Although, knowing Jiraiya, he'll be off peeping._

_I have sealed the scrolls for my most famed jutsu into this scroll, the Rasengan and Hirashin. I wish you luck, and know that I will always be looking over you, son._

_Minato Namikaze.'_

Naruto gasped in shock. Hinata's eyes widened.

"Naruto-kun…what does Yondaime-sama mean about the Kyuubi?" Hinata asked. She had read the letter, but wanted to hear it from Naruto.

"Damn it…" Naruto muttered.

_If I tell Hinata, she'll probably hate me…I can't avoid it now…thanks dad… _Naruto thought.

"Well, as you know, my dad sealed the beast away in my belly at the cost of his life. Old Man Sandaime wanted to protect me by keeping it a secret, but that didn't work out too well. I've talked to Kyuubi a few times, but mostly only when I needed his chakra. If I hold the fact that if I die, he dies over his head, he obeys me pretty well," Naruto explained. He turned, expecting Hinata to hate him. Instead, he felt a soft pair of arms envelope him.

"I don't hate you Naruto-kun. You are definitely not the demon, otherwise you would never have been so nice to me," Hinata said.

"Arigato, Hina-chan," Naruto said. He continued to read the scroll. The next letter was from his mother. The handwriting was shaky, and hard to read at some points. There were a few tearstains on the letter as well.

_'Dear Naruto-chan,_

_I'm Uzumaki Kushina, your birth mother. I am really sorry that you will grow up without your parents. Your father is going to seal the Kyuubi into you in a matter of hours, and I'm not going to recover from childbirth. (Here, tears blurred the words, making them unreadable.) Before I do die, though, I want to tell you something. The Land of Whirlpool, or Uzugakure, is still alive and thriving, you just have to know where to look. Again, I wish I could have seen you grow up._

_Love,_

_Uzumaki Kushina.'_

A tear slid down Naruto's cheek onto the letter.

"Hinata-chan, I do believe we are going to find the Land of Whirlpool."

Naruto and Hinata packed up their things before heading off to the land that used to be Uzugakure. Naruto had a theory as to where the missing country of Uzugakure was. His mother, Uzumaki Kushina, was a refugee. There were only refugees if a country had either been conquered or had fallen apart. Plus, if Kushina ran to the nearest village, then it had to border Konoha somehow.

"Hina-chan, were going to River Country."

The duo trekked through the forest and other terrain towards the River Country.

"Ne, Naruto-kun, how much longer?" Hinata asked.

"Not much longer. From my estimation..." Naruto paused to look up at the sun. "We should be there within the next half hour.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto and Hinata started to hear the sounds of a waterfall. They emerged from the tree line to behold a waterfall pouring over a cliff. Hinata gaped.

"Naruto-kun...it's so...pretty," Hinata said, trying to put into words something that was incredibly beautiful. Naruto smiled as he walked towards to edge.

"Uh, Naruto-kun...could you...by any chance...come away...from the edge?" Hinata asked.

"Don't worry, Hina-chan. I'll be...FIIIIIIIINNNEEE!" Naruto yelled as he plunged over the edge.

"NARUTO!" Hinata yelled, diving after him. Naruto landed in the water and began to sink. Hinata dove in after Naruto, leaving their things on the cliff. Grabbing Naruto's arm, she tried to kick towards the surface, but couldn't. Instead, she was being drawn towards the bottom. As she looked down, she spotted a whirlpool sucking them towards it.

_Damn it! _was Hinata's last conscious thought before they both blacked out...

When Naruto opened his eyes, he was staring at a ceiling the color of the ocean. As he looked to his left, he found Hinata curled up next to him, stirring as well. A girl about 18 years of age entered the room. She had deep blue, almost black, hair with ocean blue eyes.

"Ohayo! I see you and your friend are both awake. May I ask what your name is? My name is Takara," the young girl said. Naruto noticed she was a ninja, for she had a headband adorning her neck. The symbol looked like three spirals connected at the middle.

"Why do you want to know?" Naruto asked, a bit rudely.

"I have to report to Uzumaki-sama who you are," Takara replied.

"Well, then, do you know of one 'Uzumaki Kushina'?" Hinata asked.

"Ah, yes, Kushina-sama was the heiress until she ran away with that jonin from Konoha. Why do you ask?"

"Okay, I suppose we can tell you who we are then," Hinata replied. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata, Takara-chan."

"Uh, hey, my name's Uzumaki Naruto...I am Uzumaki Kushina's only child," Naruto told the girl.

"Ah, that's why you wanted to know," Takara said. Naruto nodded.

"Hm, I must tell Uzumaki-sama about this. He'll want to know," she muttered under her breath. Composing herself, Takara smiled at them, and left the room. A second later, another person came in, this time it was an older woman, about 38. She had brown hair and the same color eyes as Takara.

"Hello! I'm Misora! I see you have met my daughter. Well, let's get you checked over," the woman said, green chakra flowing from her hands.

"Both of you are in tip top condition, I think you'll be able to leave now," Misora told them.

"If you don't mind, where are we?" Hinata asked.

"Why, you're in Uzugakure, The City of Whirlpools. To be more specific, you're in our hospital."

"Arigato, for letting us stay here and taking care of us," Naruto said. He got out of the bed, and walked to the door. Just as he was about to open the door, a man in shinobi garb opened it from the other side.

"I assume you are Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata, right?" he asked. Misora's eyes widened. Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"Then please come with me, Uzumaki-sama would like to see you." He led them through the village to the outskirts. There, they walked through some gates to a mansion. The man knocked on the door, and a maid greeted them.

"Hello there! You must be Uzumaki-sama's guests. Please, do come in." She led them through the house to a room where a man and woman sat side by side. They both had gray hair, and looking surprisingly at the pair. A small smile crept across the old woman's face.

"Well, look who we have here, Shippuu, seems our grandson landed himself a Hyuuga," the old woman said, motioning for them to come forward. Naruto and Hinata did a double take.

"Wait a minute, how did you know I was a Hyuuga? I have contacts in..." Hinata mentioned. She took out one of the contacts, showing her white eye.

"You seem to have forgotten that you told Miss Takara," the old man, who was called Shippuu, said.

"Oh, right…" Hinata said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Naruto-kun, are you going to tell them...about you know what?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Yes, in one second," Naruto whispered back.

"Hm, secrets, secrets. Hikari, what could they possibly have to hide, I wonder," Shippuu said.

Naruto and Hinata turned back to them.

"Hikari-obaa-chan, there is something I want to tell you..." Naruto said.

"You know about the Kyuubi attack on Konoha, right?" Hinata asked. They nodded.

"Well, my dad was the Hokage at that time, and the only way to stop a demon is to seal it. So...he sealed it into me," Naruto said, showing his whiskers.

"What...what happened to Kushina?" Hikari asked.

"She...died in childbirth. I'm sorry." Shippuu consoled Hikari.

"I'm glad you were able to protect the village, but why you?" Shippuu asked.

"Yondaime-sama couldn't just ask someone to give up their child if he wasn't willing to give up his," Hinata explained.

"You said I was your...grandson, right? Then you must be my mom's parents!" Naruto said.

"Yes, Naruto, you are my grandson. And Hikari here, well, suffices to say we wish we could have seen your mother one last time after she left with your father. She could have at least told us that she had a son," the old man said.

"Why did you call me here? And what does this have to do with Hinata?" Naruto inquired.

"Ah, yes. As you know, your mother came from here. She was supposed to inherit the throne, but she ran away with your father. That leaves us with no heir, and we didn't even know you existed until yesterday when you found your way into here. Do you see our predicament?" Shippuu asked. Naruto nodded.

"Then, you want Naruto-kun to become the next...what do you call your ruler?" Hinata asked.

"Uzukage."

"So, you want Naruto-kun to become the Uzukage, right? How do I fit into this?" Hinata asked.

"Well, when you got down here, you seemed to be very protective of Naruto here, even in your sleep. You clutched him with a death grip; we practically had to pry you off him. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but still, we can tell you are very close to each other. If he becomes the Rokudaime Uzukage, you do know that he will need a partner in crime, no?" Hikari asked. Naruto and Hinata blushed.

"Y-you m-mean me...and Hinata...like...m-married?" Naruto asked. He dropped onto the floor, as Hinata had done the moment the words came out of the old lady's mouth.

"Hikari, I told you they would freak out. Why did you do that?" Shippuu asked.

"Well, the boy's going to get a lot of requests for marriage, so I though that I should play a little matchmaking before he gains the title," Hikari replied.

"Hikari, you sly dog."

When Hinata came to, the first thing she remembered was what Hikari had been talking about.

"Ah, thinking about what Hikari-obaa-chan said?" Naruto asked. He leaned down to give Hinata a sweet kiss before getting out of the bed they were in. Hinata followed suit, and they grabbed their weapons that were sitting in a pile near the bed. Strapping everything on, they ventured out into the house.

"Hinata, I...I was thinking...about last night...even if it's not now, I don't want to spend my life with anyone else then you..." Naruto started.

"Are you asking me...what I think you're asking me..."

"Yeah. I know your clan wouldn't approve, but no one can stop us here. What do you say?" Naruto asked. Hinata cracked a smile.

"Of course I will marry you...when we're older, that is." Naruto smiled a broad smile, and hugged the living daylights out of Hinata. He kissed her forehead, and continued walking.

"Hey Hina-chan, can you find Hikari-obaa-chan and Shippuu?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded.

"Byakugan!" Hinata searched the humongous house, and spotted the aged leaders. She lead Naruto to the kitchen where they were eating breakfast.

"How long were we out?" asked Naruto.

"Well, you fainted right about 9 p.m., and woke up at 8 a.m. Cinnamon roll?" Hikari asked. Hinata snatched one up, and began eating it.

"About what you said...y'know...last night..." Naruto started.

"What about it?" Shippuu asked.

"Well, when we're older...like 18 or 19...we'd actually like to get married. But, Konoha can't know about this, the Hyuuga didn't even know that Hinata was my girlfriend," Naruto said.

"Mum's the word," replied Hikari, smiling.


	3. Challenge

**Five Years Later**

Five years had gone by, and many things had changed for the land of Whirlpool. Sadly, Shippuu and Hikari both died, Shippuu of a cancerous cell in his lung, and Hikari of severe case of depression. Naruto and Hinata were married when Hinata turned 18. Naruto became the Uzukage when Hikari died.

Whirlpool had grown to include the Land of River. They agreed to alliances with Sand, Waterfall, Snow, and Wave. Sand, Snow, and Wave withdrew their alliances from Konoha as soon as they heard that Naruto was no longer in the village. When Naruto and Hinata personally visited each of the countries, they agreed to an alliance with Whirlpool.

Even though they knew none of the people in Uzugakure would rat out their leader, Hinata and Naruto kept up their disguises. Still, all of the people in Uzugakure knew that they didn't really look like that.

Stone, Lightning and Sound all declared war on Konoha. They rapidly scrambled for allies, since all of their major alliances were cut. In a last ditch effort, Tsunade sent an envoy to Whirlpool. It consisted of Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Neji, and Yuuhi Kurenai. They set out to Uzugakure, which was a three-day journey.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata received word that Konoha sent a team to discuss an alliance Naruto smirked, he had changed over these five years. Did they really think he was going to help them? Though, they probably didn't know he was actually the Uzukage. Boy, were they in for a surprise. Naruto had grown considerably under his grandfather, and Hinata had become deadlier then ever.

_-Flashback-_

_It had been just over a year since Naruto and Hinata got to Whirlpool. Hinata trained with Hikari, while Naruto trained with Shippuu._

_"Hinata, today we will be working more with your taijutsu style. Now, the Hyuuga Jyuken is a powerful style of taijutsu, but there are many flaws to it. Now Hinata, try to attack me," Hikari said. Hinata charged toward her, chakra flowing through her hands. She tried to attack Hikari, but all of her strikes were blocked. Hinata smirked as she saw Hikari dodge and land within her range._

_"You're within my field of hakke," Hinata told Hikari._

_"Two strikes!"_

_"Four strikes!"_

_"Eight strikes!"_

_"Sixteen strikes!"_

_"Thirty-two strikes!"_

_"Sixty-four strikes!"_

_Hikari stumbled back, but stood straight up and charged at Hinata._

_"What the hell!" Hinata yelled. "You shouldn't be able to move!" Hikari smirked._

_"Simple, I blocked your hits with a chakra shield. Now, try again, but with a different method," Hikari explained. Hinata sighed, and tried again._

_Meanwhile, Shippuu was sitting with Naruto, trying to decide what to do. He eventually had an idea._

_"Naruto, I want to ask you something," Shippuu said._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Can you fight without the Kyuubi?"_

_"Um, maybe. I've only used it as a trump card when I have nothing left. Oh, and it comes out when I'm angry too."_

_"Well, the Kyuubi might not always be there."_

_"Nani?"_

_"It's true. What if Akatsuki comes for you? Should you use Kyuubi's chakra, they would immediately know who you are." Naruto thought about it. Shippuu's point made sense, and Naruto figured he could learn to fight without the Kyuubi's chakra._

_"Damn, you're right…I'll do it," Naruto replied. Shippuu nodded. He had Naruto show him the seal, since he would seal Kyuubi's chakra during his training._

_'Ah, an even-numbered seal. I'll have to use an even-number as well,' Shippuu thought. He formed hand seals._

_"Four Elements Seal: Fuin!" Shippuu said. He placed his hand over the Kyuubi's seal._

_"Ug," Naruto groaned as he slumped to the ground unconscious. Shippuu summoned a shadow clone to bring him to his room._

_Hinata and Hikari worked hard, and Hinata retired to her room, exhausted. Shippuu's clone brought Naruto into to room onto the other bed. Hinata shot a questioning look to the clone._

_"I sealed the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto should be awake within two hours or so." Hinata nodded, and the clone poofed away._

_-Flashback End-_

Since then, Hinata had developed a new style of taijutsu, made specifically for those with Jyuken training. The Kawaken, or River style, uses the Hyuuga's knowledge of the tenketsu and precise chakra control and combines it with the ferocity of a wolf. Hinata signed the wolf contract, which allows her to combine her attacks with their taijutsu style. The result is a ferocious chakra attack that pulverizes the opponent if she even gets a few hits.

Naruto trained to fight without the Kyuubi's chakra. He began to store some chakra in a seal on his body, similar to Tsunade's Sozo Saisei. If needed, Naruto could release the seal, which would allow a flood of chakra to enter his system.

Their outfits had also changed much. Naruto now wore a white t-shirt, black cargo pants, black shinobi sandals, a jonin vest, and a cloak much like his father's. Naruto's cloak was black with yellow-orange flames at the bottom, and the kanji for 'Rokudaime Uzukage' on the back. He had his katana strapped diagolnally across his back, along with several weapon pouches.

Hinata's clothing was vastly different from the old, baggy clothes she used to wear. Hinata wore a deep blue tank top with fishnet underneath, khaki cargo pants, standard black shinobi sandals, and her old gloves. Naruto had gotten Hinata's gloves engraved with the kanji for 'life' and 'angel.'

The envoy from Konoha arrived in the afternoon, and Naruto had one of his guards bring them in to him. They bowed to Naruto, and stood back up.

"Uzukage-sama, Konoha is in desperate need of help. My Hokage, Senju Tsunade, has asked us to request of you an alliance," Kurenai explained.

"Hm, and why should we consider this?" asked Hinata.

"Yes, Sand, Wave, and Snow tell me that you forsook one of your own, causing him to leave. Well, two, actually, but the fault for the second falls on her clan," Naruto agreed.

Kiba snorted.

"That damned bakemono left as a traitor. He betrayed the village, and probably kidnapped that pathetic girl on the way out!" Sakura screeched.

"I agree, Konoha was not at fault for them," Kiba said. Neji and Kurenai obviously held different opinions, but chose not to speak up.

"Please, Uzukage-sama. Konoha will fall without help," Neji said. Naruto pondered for a moment.

_I think I will go to Konoha to give them a scare, plus I need to give the option of joining me to the people who actually cared for me. I have unfinished business with Konoha, I want to make them wish they hadn't treated me like that, _Naruto thought.

"I will consider. Now leave, I have things to attend to," Naruto told them, ushering them out of the room. Naruto turned to Hinata.

"So, what do you think?" Naruto asked. Hinata shrugged.

"I think you should do whatever you want, but why you would want to go back there is beyond me," she said.

"I wanted to shake them up a bit, plus I'd like to tell the people who did like us like Tsunade, Shizune, and Iruka, that they had the option of coming here. I believe that their reactions spoke for those who came here, am I right?"

"Yeah."

Naruto and Hinata, along with five guards from their SPIRAL forces, left with the Konoha envoy. Three days later, the group arrived at Konoha's gates.

"Ah, Uzukage-sama. Welcome to Konoha," Izumo said. Naruto smiled at them.

_I should remember to ask them,_ Naruto thought. They walked through Konoha, and arrived at the Hokage tower. Kurenai spoke to the receptionist, and they walked into the Hokage's office. Tsunade looked up from the paperwork that she was signing.

"Good day, Uzukage-san. I suppose you would like a meeting with the council?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded. Tsunade dismissed the envoy, and Naruto and Hinata followed Tsunade to the council room.

"ANBU, please gather the council members. I need them here to discuss a treaty," Tsunade said to the shadows. A swirl of leaves signaled the ANBU member leaving. Within ten minutes, all of the members were assembled.

"As you can see, today we have the Uzukage joining us to discuss a treaty," Tsunade announced. "Uzukage-san, we have a couple requests if we are going to create a treaty."

"And what might those be?" Hinata asked.

"Well, from a couple of sources, we heard that Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata were last seen in the Land of Whirlpool. Can you tell us anything you know?" Tsunade asked. Naruto looked thoughtful.

"Well?" Naruto didn't answer.

"Arg, you can tell us nicely, and you and your little friends won't get hurt, or we can force it out of you. Which do you choose?" Hiashi asked.

"Neither, I will not stand this disrespect," Naruto said.

"You brat! I can't believe that a..._child_...as young as yourself dares speak to the leader of the great Hyuuga clan like that!" Hiashi yelled. He stood, and charged at Naruto. However, the moment the strike hit, 'Naruto' poofed into smoke.

_Kage Bunshin, _Hiashi thought. Hinata quickly pressed a pressure point on his neck, rendering him unconscious.

"Now," said Naruto, dropping from the ceiling. "Feel free to present any other demands."

When none spoke up, Naruto smirked.

"We have one request. Seeing as we are a fairly new nation, wouldn't it be interesting if myself and one of my guards fought your top three shinobi?" Naruto suggested.

"I don't see any reason not to," Tsunade said. "Alright, what time would you like the match to be held at? It will be in the Konoha Stadium."

"I will see to it that I and my guard appear in your stadium tomorrow at 3:15. Pick whichever three ninja you want. Oh, and don't be late," Naruto said, walking out of the room with Hinata. As Naruto left, they failed to see the smirk on his face.

_Hahaha, your shinobi will get the whipping of a lifetime. It will be so much fun to humiliate them with Hinata-chan's help,_ Naruto thought.

Almost all of the shinobi that weren't on duty came to see the Uzukage and one of his guards fight three of the Konoha ninjas. The civilians were there too, but they didn't find it as interesting as the ninja populace. The three shinobi chosen to fight against the Uzukage and his guard were Yuuhi Kurenai, for her Genjutsu skill, Maito Gai, for his Taijutsu skill, and Hatake Kakashi, for his Ninjutsu skill.

"Ahem. Will the participants please enter the ring?" Genma asked. They complied, and Naruto and Hinata stood to face their challengers.

"Begin!" Naruto and Hinata watched as Kurenai and Kakashi disappeared. Gai hung back, to analyze their opponents' fighting style. Kakashi reappeared, and formed hand signs. A group of clouds formed overhead, and lightning began to strike. Naruto dodged, and Kawarmied with a clone. The clone was fried, and Naruto popped out behind Kakashi. Naruto had unsheathed his katana, and sliced at Kakashi, who dodged and jumped back.

_Damn, I have to use the Sharingan; otherwise I stand no chance, _Kakashi thought, pulling up his hitai-ate. It spun, trying to detect Naruto's next move.

Behind Hinata, a tree began to sprout. It trapped Hinata, and Kurenai sprouted out of it. She held a kunai to Hinata's neck, who promptly dispersed in a puff of smoke. Kurenai looked shocked as Hinata appeared in front of her, quickly forming hand signs.

_This cannot be good,_ Kurenai thought. She was right, as vines sprouted from the ground and bound her.

"Mm, pathetic, don't you think? I'm only Uzukage-sama's guard, and yet I defeated the Genjutsu Mistress," Hinata told Kurenai.

_Well, we're ignoring the fact that I trained with him for the past couple of years, _Hinata thought. Kurenai sighed in defeat.

"Gomen, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata whispered to her old sensei. A look of shock crossed Kurenai's face. Hinata pushed a pressure point in her neck, effectively knocking her out.

"Knockout: Yuuhi Kurenai," Genma announced. Kurenai was taken off the field. Hinata jumped back, and watched as Naruto fought Kakashi. Kakashi had been using his Sharingan, but it slowly drained his chakra. He stopped, and pondered what to do.

_I have to finish this soon, _Kakashi thought.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi charged at Naruto, and shoved the Chidori toward him. Naruto, however, grabbed his wrist, and pressed a pressure point, causing Kakashi to lose all chakra control to that hand.

_Damn it! How did he do that! It was like...he knew what I was going to do... Surely he hasn't seen that jutsu before, only a couple people from Konoha know it... _Kakashi thought. He surveyed his surroundings, and saw that Naruto had disappeared. Kakashi looked around, only to have Naruto sprout at his feet. Kakashi jumped up, but a clone of Naruto kicked him back down. On the ground, Naruto rapidly formed hand seals, and shouted out his jutsu.

"Hijutsu: Wa-suto Akumu!"

Kakashi fell to his knees, and frantically tried to escape the genjutsu. It showed Sasuke killing him in every way possible. Naruto looked at him twitching on the ground.

_That's what you get for ignoring me, an Uzumaki Family jutsu, made especially for Sharingan_, Naruto thought with a smirk.

"Knockout: Hatake Kakashi," Genma yelled. Naruto watched as Kakashi was carted off the field.

_Oh, don't worry...He'll be up in a few...days, maybe a week, _Naruto thought, smirking. He turned to look at Hinata, and motioned a few times to her before turning back.

Hinata had been sitting on the railing of the stadium, and Hinata caught his signal to stay where she was. Gai was a formidable opponent, and he would need her to heal him afterwards. Naruto looked at Gai, and smirked when he disappeared.

_Don't worry, Gai. I'll give you a challenge, _Naruto thought, blocking one of Gai's kicks. He used Gai's force against him, and threw Gai back. Gai flipped, and landed on his feet. The fight continued this way for several minutes, Naruto would block, and ease in the occasional hit. Naruto had a humungous amount of stamina, enough to give Gai a good run for his money. Naruto waited until Gai got desperate to attack seriously.

Naruto formed hand signs, and a small thread of chakra shot out of his finger, intent on sucking out Gai's chakra. He attached it, and Gai began to realize what was happening. Gai realized that the more tired he was Naruto still seemed to be going fine.

_If I don't do something soon, he'll have the upper hand. He seems to have almost unlimited stamina, I better finish quickly,_ Gai thought. He stopped, and began to open the gates.

_Ah, damn, better release half of my chakra. Hmph, it took me forever to store this. Oh well, _Naruto thought. _Chakra fuuin__**, **_**_katateochi kai!_**

"Kaimon, kai!"

"Kyumon, kai!"

"Seimon, kai!"

"Shomon, kai!"

"Tomon, kai!"

"Ura Renge!" Naruto was kicked into the air, and Gai rained punches on Naruto. Naruto cushioned the blows with chakra, but it still caused major damage to Naruto. Naruto landed in a crater, and Gai stepped back to catch his breath.

"What the hell Gai! You bloody idiot! You weren't supposed to kill the Uzukage!" Tsunade yelled from her seat in the Kage box. Hinata jumped off the railing, raced over to Naruto, and knelt beside him.

"Chakra fuuin**, ****kai…"******Naruto whispered, coughing up blood. Hinata's hands began to glow green as she used her and Naruto's chakra to heal him. The people in the stadium held their breath to see the outcome. Naruto was knocked unconscious, but he was mostly healed of the major damage.

"Knockout: Uzukage-sama," Genma called out. Whispers broke out as Naruto was carried off the field on a stretcher.

Hinata had finished with enough of her chakra to perform one more jutsu, enough to get her the win.

_Gai is almost out of the chakra he used from the gates, so he won't be able to dodge,_

Hinata thought.

Hinatas sprinted forward, until Gai was in her range.

"You're in my field of hakke," she called out.

"Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty Eight Palms!"

"Two Palms!"

"Four Palms!"

"Eight Palms!"

"Sixteen Palms!"

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

"One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

Gai flew back, and he landed on the ground, knocked out.

"Knockout: Maito Gai," Genma called. "Winner, um... what should I call you, Miss?"

"Uzumaki…Hikari."

"Winner: Uzumaki Hikari." The crowd burst into whispers. This girl carried the name of the traitorous Demon Brat. Hinata swayed, and fell to the ground. She blacked out, and medics picked the girl up.


	4. Revelation

When she woke, Naruto was lying next to her in a bed. Tsunade came into the room.

"Miss Uzumaki, I believe the council and I have some questions for you. Uzukage-san, let me see if you are okay to come," Tsunade said. She walked over to Naruto, and did a quick exam. Naruto had three broken ribs, which she healed. He also had cuts and bruises everywhere, along with a cracked femur. She healed all of these wounds, and turned to Hinata.

"He should be able to be released within the next day or so. Now, if you would please come with me," Tsunade told Hinata. Hinata looked at Naruto, who simply brushed his hand along her arm. She left, and closed the door behind her. When Hinata looked at where Naruto had brushed his hand, and she saw the mark for a Hirashin. She smirked. So he wanted a grand entrance, did he?

Hinata followed Tsunade to the council chamber. She entered behind Tsunade, and stood behind her.

"As you all experienced, there is something that you two are not telling us. We now know that Hinata and Naruto did in fact end up in Whirlpool, and it seems that they taught you some things. A couple of questions we would like you to answer. First, why can you perform Hyuuga jutsu?" Tsunade asked.

"Mm, I guess you could say I was taught," Hinata replied. "Next question."

"Why is your surname Uzumaki?" Koharu asked.

"Well, Uzumaki is a pretty popular surname in Whirlpool. But that is not the reason." Hinata looked down to the ring on her finger. A few council members' eyes widened.

"So...you...married into the Uzumakis?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes. Oh, I lied to you, by the way. I'm not the Uzukage's guard," Hinata told them.

"Then who are you?" Tsume asked.

"You're the Uzukage's...wife...then?" asked Shikaku. Hinata nodded.

"Ah, so can you tell us some things about the Uzukage?" asked Homura.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Naruto said, as he appeared in a flash of yellow.

"I thought I told you to stay in bed!" Tsunade scolded Naruto. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Gomen, Baa-chan," Naruto said before he could stop. Everyone in the room stared at him.

"N-Naruto?" Tsunade asked. Naruto sighed, and took out the contacts and brushed off the makeup conceling his birthmarks. The blue eyes and whisker marks clearly showed who he was. The council burst into a roar.

"Why are we alliancing with this...this...demon!"

"Because we need help, you fool!"

"Besides, does he _look_ like a demon to you?"

"Quiet!" yelled Tsunade, slamming her hands on the desk.

"Hokage-sama, I believe you are missing someone here," Hinata said. She pulled out the contacts as well.

"Hinata?" Hiashi asked.

"Well, it makes sense now. The reason she could do Hyuuga moves is because she was taught them. Although, I would like to know if your marriage is true?" Inoichi asked. Naruto nodded.

"Hinata, you have disgraced yourself and this clan by marrying outside of the Hyuuga clan. You will have to be given the Caged Bird Seal for doing so," Hiashi stated.

"Not so fast. You have no right to push her around like that. She is under my protection as my wife, and as a citizen of Uzu," Naruto retaliated. He smirked. "By the way, we were never here to approve a treaty. You are just a stupid village that needs to rely on its allies. And when all of your allies, whom I got you, left you in the dust, you finally realized that you couldn't take the big bad world. Good luck in the war, there is no way in the world I would ever agree to an alliance with you. By the way, I talked to the Daimyo. He said that Uzu could take most of Konoha's land. Seems that he likes me, and thinks that you are real stupid to think of disgracing one of your best shinobi. Oh, and remember that technique I used earlier? That was Hirashin. You know? My dad's famous jutsu? That's right, you practically kicked the son of your most famed hero out of your gates. You are so stupid! I am pretty much the spitting image of him! Well, I hope Konoha can get its butt moving, and then you _might_ just survive. Barely."

He walked over to Tsunade, and whispered into her ear.

"Tsunade, Hinata and I are inviting you to come to Uzugakure to stay. If you would like, come to the West gates in two hours." Tsunade nodded.

Naruto and Hinata went around asking all of the people that liked them to come to Uzugakure. Once everyone that was coming arrived, they set off towards Uzu.

Naruto and Hinata led their group of friends to Uzugakure. They stopped in front of the gate, and the guards bowed while opening the gates.

"Okay, for now, you guys can stay with us in our house, until we settle someplace for each of you to stay. That sound like a good plan to you?" asked Hinata. Everyone nodded. Naruto and Hinata led them to their house, which was humongous. It left their friends speechless.

"Wow," said Kurenai.

_If only you were here with me, Asuma,_ Kurenai thought, looking at the sky.

"Your house...is huge!" mumbled Izumo.

"Alright, Kurenai, you will be in this room," Naruto said, motioning to a room on the second floor. "Izumo, you will be across the hall, Kotetsu, next to Izumo. Neji and Ten Ten, I think it is same to assume you can have this room, the one next to Kurenai, since you are boyfriend and girlfriend. Tsunade-baachan and Shizune, you room will be next to Neji and Ten Ten's, Old Man Ichiraku, your room is next to Kotetsu. Ayame, you will be next to Tsunade-baachan. Finally, Iruka and Anko, since you are married you can have the room next to Old Man Ichiraku. This sound good to you guys?" Naruto asked. Everyone went to their rooms to out away their stuff.

"Dinner is in an hour, and we will work the other things out tomorrow!" Hinata yelled down the hallway. Anko and Kurenai walked over to Hinata and Naruto.

"Hey gaki, where's the bathroom?" Anko asked.

"Oh, it's down the hall to the left. That side is the womens bathroom," Hinata said.

Hinata went to the kitchen to cook dinner while Naruto dealt with Uzukage business. An hour later, everyone was seated at the table and Hinata along with a few servants helped her serve dinner. As everyone ate, Naruto told everyone what was going to happen.

"Okay, so tomorrow, you guys can either hang around, train, or explore the village. Old Man Ichiraku, I have a stand set up for you, so you can start getting it ready tomorrow, okay?" Naruto said. Ichiraku nodded.

"Hey Naruto, what are you going to do during the war if you're not helping Konoha?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, I was going to sit back and relax. The Fire Daimyo knows how Konoha has treated me, and has practically deserted Konoha. Besides that, I was going to rescue any people who didn't come with us that aren't worthy of death," Naruto explained.


	5. Pursuit

The next day, everyone decided what he or she was going to do. Neji and Ten Ten asked Hinata to oversee their training and give them a few pointers. People were minding their own business when a giant snake loomed over the village. On top of its head stood Kabuto, half taken over by Orochimaru. Next to them flew a giant clay bird, on which members of Akatsuki were standing.

"Oh shoot," Naruto muttered. He summoned the SPIRAL captain. "Captain, I need you to tell the genin and chunin to evacuate the villagers to the safe-hold. They should follow the villagers and guard them, okay?" The man nodded.

Naruto jumped out of his window and used his air-walking technique to run over to the front of the village where some of his ninja were trying to hold them off. Naruto formed hand seals and jumped to the ground shouting,

"Kuchiyose! Kyuubi no Yoko!" The tall form of Kyuubi loomed over the snake.

"Goodbye Manda," Kyuubi said. He blew a fireball in Manda's direction. Manda shed his skin and dove underground. As he was about to come up, Kyuubi grabbed Manda with his claws and slashed at its face. Manda, heavily bleeding, turned to Kabuto.

"Consider our contract void, that is what you get for summoning me against Kyuubi no Yoko!" Manda disappeared in a puff of smoke along with Kyuubi.

_Thanks Yoko, I couldn't have driven Manda away without your summoning contract,_ Naruto thought.

**No problem, kit.**

Back in the real world, the four Akatsuki members jumped off the bird. Deidara, Tobi, Itachi, and Kisame were the people that had been sent by Pein to gather information on the Kyuubi jinchuriki and his village.

"Looks pretty strong to me," commented Kisame, as he watched them battle Kabuto.

Kabuto was currently fighting Kurenai, Neji, Ten Ten, and Hinata. He had been trapped in one of Kurenai's Genjutsu. He broke it, and Kurenai jumped back. She couldn't risk the life of her child by continuing on. Neji and Ten Ten distracted Kabuto, and Hinata stealthily moved behind him. Just as she was about to kill him, Tsunade punched him with a chakra-laden fist. He flew away, and one of the SPIRALS went to go get the body. When he returned with the body, he set it next to Naruto and Tsunade. As Tsunade was making sure he was dead, Kabuto injected a slow-acting poison into Naruto's leg. He then dropped his hand, and drew his last breath.

The Akatsuki watched, and they decided that they had enough information.

"Aw, but I wanted to cut some people up!" whined Kisame. Itachi replaced himself with a clone, and quietly made his way to Hinata. He appeared next to her, and tapped her shoulder. As soon as Hinata saw who it was, she settled into a stance.

"Sh, I'm only here to tell you that an old demon is not yet dead, one who hides in plain sight, who wants the power of a ten-tailed myth," Itachi told her. He faded away again.

Once the villains left, everyone started rebuilding. The village was running again in a week, thanks to Naruto's shadow clones. The villagers were released from the safe house, and everything was almost normal. Tsunade and Shizune checked over everyone, and gave him or her a clean bill of health after the healing.

Just as things seemed to settle down, something else happened. One day when Naruto was in his office, he began to cough. His coughing got worse and worse, and then he started to cough up blood. Tsunade and Shizune were immediately called to see what was wrong.

Tsunade did a full body scan of Naruto.

_Everything seems to be normal, but wait...what's this?_ Tsunade thought. She examined it closer. Paling, Tsunade stepped back. She cleaned up, and walked into the waiting room.

"So, Tsunade-sama how is Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked worriedly. Tsunade shook her head.

"Naruto...Naruto has been poisoned. It was a slow-acting poison, so I didn't notice it at first. He...has three months to live, unless we find an antidote."

"Well...can...can w-we find it?" Hinata asked, tears pricking her eyes.

"I don't know. This poison is extremely high level, and the antidote comes from one plant. The Kansui Roze, or Submerged Rose, only grows underwater. There is said to be only one in existence at a particular time."

"Then we must find this rose," Hinata said with determination. She assembled a squad consisting of herself, Neji, Ten Ten, Shizune, and Takara, who was now a SPIRAL captain.

_Good luck,_ Tsunade thought as they left. She looked at Naruto. _For your sake, I hope they find it._

Hinata, Neji, Ten Ten, Shizune, and Takara trekked through the woods to Fushigi Lake. Once they got there, they began the search for the Kansui Roze. Hinata and Neji activated their Byakugan and looked around. Ten Ten and Shizune dove into the water to search. Taki summoned her turtles to look for it. An hour later, everyone met back up.

"Anything?" asked Hinata hopefully. They shook their head.

The search continued this way for two weeks. They searched several rivers, lakes, and streams, but they found nothing. A letter from Tsunade arrived one day by slug.

_Hinata,_

_You need to find the rose as soon as possible. Naruto's condition has worsened, and he only has about a week at most._

_Yours Truly,_

_Tsunade_

Tears began to fill Hinata's eyes.

_We'll never be able to find it in time! We've been looking for two weeks and haven't the slightest clue! And now...now we have only a week! _Hinata thought dejectedly. She got up and walked to the lake that they were camping by.

Stripping off her outside clothes, Hinata jumped in with only her undershirt and pants on. She breathed out as she sunk lower in the water. Tears rolled down her cheek and blended with the water.

_What's wrong? _asked a voice in Hinata's head.

"Who's there?" Hinata asked.

_I am the guardian of this lake, Kaiyou. You are?_

"Namikaze Hinata."

_You can speak in your mind, you know. Anyways, why were you crying, child?_

_Well, My husband has been poisoned, and the only way to save him is through the antidote that is created from the Kansui Roze._

_Ah, I see. What if I offered to help you?_

_Why would you do that?_

_I can feel that you are a water type, and that I take pity on your situation._

_I need no one's pity!_

_All right, don't accept my help and save you husband..._

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, can you please help me?_

_Yes, but first you must bring a sealing scroll here. The second that the rose touches air, it will start to wilt. Even sealing it will not stop the process._

_I see why you want me to seal it underwater, but how will I get the scroll underwater?_

_I will teach you a waterproofing seal._

_Thank you._

The seal appeared in Hinata's mind, and she got a scroll. After painting the waterproofing seal next the storage seal, Hinata brought it back to Kaiyou.

_Here, I'll send a fish to show you where it is. Do you know how to breath underwater?_

_Yes._

_Okay, Nishin, please escort Hinata-chan here to the Kansui Roze._

Hinata saw a fish swim up to her. It beckoned with its fin, and Hinata swam after it. Nishin took her to an underwater cave. In the middle, surrounded by a couple fish, was the most beautiful rose that Hinata had ever seen. Several colors were depicted on the petals of the rose; there were blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and purples. Hinata swam up the seal the rose. As she did, she became aware of a person on a ledge just above the water.

"Halt, who goes there?" asked a voice.

"Namikaze Hinata."

"Hinata-san, what reason do you have for taking the rose?" A figure revealed itself.

"Who are you?" Hinata asked.

" I am the guardian of the Kansui Roze, Ningyo Irie. However, I will ask you again, what is your reason for taking the rose?"

"If I don't get this rose, my village healer will not be able to save my husband. Please, Irie-sama, let me have the rose to cure my husband!" Tears mixed with the water as Hinata pleaded with Irie.

"Very well, I see you motives were true."

"Thank you, thank you!" Hinata swam over to the rose, and sealed it into her scroll. She quickly swam back to her camp, and got out of the water. Not bothering to dry off, Hinata donned her outer clothes and ran back to camp.

"I've found it! I've found it!" she cried. Everyone came out to meet her. "We must get back to the village as soon as possible!"

They packed up the camp and raced back to Uzugakure as fast as possible. Hinata cradled the scroll in her arms the whole way. They finally got to Uzugakure, and burst into the hospital.

"We've found it! It's here!"

Tsunade hurriedly created the antidote. She barked out orders to the frightened nurses. Thankfully, Uzugakure had a vast amount of medical herbs, thanks to Hinata.

"I need safflower and the basil now! Hot water too!" Tsunade steeped the ingredients in hot water, and brought the tea to Naruto's room. Shizune and Hinata stood at his bedside. Hinata gripped Naruto's hand.

"Ladies," Tsunade said. She stepped forward and opened Naruto's mouth to pour the tea down his throat.

"There. Now he should awaken within two days. If he is not awake by sunrise on the third, well..." Tsunade trailed off.

Everyday after that, Hinata would stand at his bedside. She waited and waited; pleading to every god she knew to save him. At the end of the second day, she grew desperate.

_Naruto-kun, please, please wake up, I don't know if I can live without you..._

"Naruto-kun, if you can here me, please, I need you to wake up. Our villagers and ninja, along with all of our friends, want you...no, they need you to wake up. Myself included. If you died, I...I don't know what I'd do with myself. I might be strong enough to run Uzu without you, or... or I might succumb to depression, like Hikari-baachan..."

Hinata stared into Naruto's face. She thought she saw a movement. As the sky lightened, she paled.

_Oh Kami, please, his time is almost up! _Hinata thought. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks.

"Ugh, Hinata-chan?" Surprised, Hinata threw her arms around Naruto.

"Naruto-kun! I thought you were going to die!" She was now sobbing into his chest.

"Come now, you know me better than that... I would never, ever, leave this world without you..."


	6. Abduction

For a week or so following Naruto's awakening, he rested in the hospital regaining his strength. Kyuubi helped to replenish Naruto's chakra, and heal any damage already done by the poison. Hinata was forced to take over Naruto's position for now, until he could resume work.

On the eighth day, Tsunade allowed Naruto to be released.

"Finally! I hate hospitals!" Naruto said. He walked down the hall with Hinata. Once they got outside, many people expressed their concern for his well-being.

"I'm fine, thank you," Naruto replied to an old woman. He continued on his way to his house.

"Gosh, Hinata, you'd think I was some sort of celebrity," Naruto said to Hinata.

"That's because you are, silly."

"I know."

"Well, what should we do? I think I'm free for the rest of the day, correct?" Naruto smirked.

"Of course, Uzukage-san."

Naruto and Hinata arrived at their house and went inside. Once there, Naruto went to his and Hinata's room. He sat at his desk to write a few letters to his allies. He told them what he had found out about the Akatsuki and Sound. As he was writing, Hinata suddenly remembered something.

"Naruto-kun! Near the end of the battle, Uchiha Itachi came to me," Hinata told Naruto.

"What! What did he tell you? Did he hurt you?" Naruto asked. His letters lay forgotten on his desk.

"He said...he said that an old demon, one who is not yet dead, who hides in plain sight, and who desires the power of a ten-tailed myth."

"Hm, old demon...ten-tailed myth..." Naruto muttered to himself.

_Hey Yoko, know anything about this? _Naruto asked.

**Well, kit, for what I can remember, the part about the ten-tailed myth started with the Sage of Six Paths. He was the person to seal away the Juubi, a powerful ten-tailed demon. He split it into the nine parts that have become the Bijuu. The old demon, I'm not sure about. Unless... **Kyuubi trailed off.

**Of course! Listen kit, I am going to tell why I really attacked the Hidden Leaf, well, besides the fact that they deserved it, but anyways...Before that day, I was living peacefully in the Land of Fire. I caused no destruction, because I am not that kind of person. One day, I returned from hunting for food to the smell of blood. It was the blood of my family's. I was extremely angry when I found their bodies, and Uchiha Madara, the Uchiha founder, put me into a Sharingan-induced rage.**

_So when he was talking about the ten-tailed demon, and the old demon, he meant the Juubi and Uchiha Madara?_

**Yes. I am not sure about hiding in plain sight, though. But, I must admit, Uchiha's are masters of trickery, so I wouldn't be surprised if he were here now.**

_Well, if he's here now, why can't I just train my shinobi more and go out to attack him? _Naruto thought idiotically.

**You idiot! I haven't finished yet! If Madara wanted to release the Juubi, he needs all of the Bijuu. Now, which one does he NOT have?**

_You._

**Bingo. That is why you can't outright attack him. He will just capture you, and take me. Idiot.**

_Then what do I do? Sit back and wait for him to waltz in?_

**Simple. I will teach you, and you will get strong enough to at least be on even ground with Madara. If worst comes to worst, you must seal him.**

_But, won't that...kill me?_

**A normal human, yes. But, I plan to make you into a hanyou. However, that will shatter the seal that your grandfather placed. I assume that is all right?**

_Yes, but Yoko, why are you helping me?_

**Remember, kit, he killed my family. I want him dead as much as you do.**

Finally, Naruto got back to the real world. Hinata sat on the bed facing him.

"Are you finally back?" she asked. Naruto chuckled.

"Yes."

"Did you find out who Itachi was talking about?"

"The ten-tailed demon is a being called the Juubi. It ran rampant before the time of the Sage of Six Paths. The old demon is a man named Uchiha Madara. He was the Uchiha founder, and the one who set Kyuubi on Konoha." Hinata gasped.

"If Madara gets his hands on the Juubi...he will be unstoppable!" Hinata realized. Naruto nodded.

"Call together all jonin and above level ninja. Meet in the conference room ASAP," Naruto told one of the guards around him. The SPIRAL member nodded, and went off to make the announcement. Half an hour later, all ninja jonin and above were sitting in the conference room.

"I am sure you are wondering why you have been called here. Well, I have discovered a new and very dangerous threat to the village, one that will have to be handled carefully. During the raid, Hinata here was relayed a message by Uchiha Itachi..." Naruto was cut off by whispers.

"But, doesn't that mean he is on our side?" asked a kunochi.

"We are unsure what that means at the moment, but that is nothing compared to what we have before us. This danger takes the form of Uchiha Madara." More whispers followed.

"Yes, the Uchiha Madara, founder of the Uchiha clan, has survived all of these years, and now wants to take over the world. He was also the man that set Kyuubi on Konoha. Now, we need to prepare all of our ninja for the onslaught that is sure to come. I am unable to discover what army he has behind him, but I doubt that it will be weak. Hinata here will announce the training schedule." Naruto stepped back.

"Very well. The training schedule will cover five weeks. The first week, we will be training in chakra control exercises, along with increasing chakra capacity. The second week, we will focus on Ninjutsu. The third week, we will teach solely Genjutsu. Taijutsu is the fourth week, and last but not least, weaponry is the fifth and final week," Hinata explained.

"Hinata-sama, why do we have to train like this?" asked a special jonin named Kasuka Otome asked.

"Very good question. The reason is that both Naruto-kun and I love this village too much to send you all blindly into a war against much stronger opponents," Hinata replied.

"What will the genin and chunin be doing during this time?" asked Anko.

"They will train, but only basically. They need speed and agility to protect the villagers. That is their job if we were ever to be attacked suddenly," Hinata answered. Seeing that no one had any more questions, they were dismissed. Naruto and Hinata trekked back to their house, and relaxed on the bed.

"Hinata-chan...there's...something I didn't tell you. To summon the Juubi, Madara needs all of the Bijuu. And...he has all...but one..." Naruto began.

"Kyuubi...no, no, I will NEVER allow him to get you. Damn, I almost lost you once, there is no way in hell I will lose you again!" Hinata proclaimed.

"Arigato, Hinata-chan."

Several days passed, and everything went smoothly. Naruto and Hinata trained the shinobi, and they began to make good progress. But, in the beginning of the first week, something tragic happened. One day, when Hinata was exhausted from training, she was finishing up training alone. A few of the ninja had wanted more training, and Hinata complied.

As she was about to leave, a hand clamped over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. As Hinata began to fight, she grew weaker and weaker.

"Now, now, don't fight. The seals on you will only drain more chakra. Don't worry; we only want your husband dead. That isn't so bad, is it?" asked a masculine voice. The last coherent thought before she passed out was,

_Naruto-kun, be safe._

The following morning, Naruto received the news. Hinata had been kidnapped, and Akatsuki were demanding him to hand himself over if she was going to live.

When Hinata awoke, the first thing she noticed was that she was chained up in a cell of some sort. She also had chakra-suppressing seals on her body.

"Ah, so our hime has finally awoken, has she?" taunted a guard.

"Ha ha, looks more like a poor slave to me," replied another.

_Should I try to shut them up? Nah, it would ruin my element of surprise for escape,_ thought Hinata. She heard the door open, and shifted positions to see who was coming in. A tall, blue, fish-like guy was coming to get her.

"Leader-sama has asked me to get our prisoner for interrogation. Nothing wrong with getting information out of her while she's here," the man said to the guards. They unlocked Hinata's cell and chains, and then practically threw her towards the man.

"Oof," Hinata said as she landed on the ground. Her head spun for a moment before she felt a pair of handcuffs being fastened to her hands, and the man lifted her up. The man pushed her out the door, and Hinata glared at him.

"Now, now, none of that, or you might find yourself missing a few limbs tomorrow morning," he said. He grinned, showing his pointy teeth.

"Kisame! Where is the Hyuuga?" barked a voice. Just from the tone, Hinata could tell he was the leader.

"Right here, leader-sama." He pushed Hinata towards the man. He had orange hair with several piercings all over his face. Hinata refused to look at his face. She felt a hand lift up her chin. Wrenching her head away from the man, she looked down again.

"Hm, feisty one we have here. Deidara, take her to the interrogation room, and summon Itachi. If I can't get anything out of her, he'll have to step in."

Hinata was dragged to a room, and tied up in her chair. The orange-haired man stepped forward, and looked in her eyes.

"Now tell me, what is the Kyuubi's weakness?"

"Damn you to hell!" Hinata said, resisting.

"Very well, if you want to be difficult…"


	7. Getaway

Naruto stood pacing around the Uzukage's office.

"Where the hell are they! Haven't they found some trace of her! I can't believe that you are making me stay here Tsunade-baachan! I could have-"

"Naruto! Will you shut up already?" asked Tsunade.

"But Baachan..."

"Enough! You already sent out five of your best ninja on a search. There is no need to go pacing around your office and wearing a hole in the floor!"

Naruto stopped, and sat in his chair. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Naruto jumped up, and flung open the door. There stood Neji, Ten Ten, Shizune, Izumo, and Kotetsu.

"Well?" Naruto asked expectantly. They all looked at each other, in order to decide who would break the news to him.

"There is...no sign of her. It was like she completely disappeared off the face of the earth!" Izumo said.

"We...we did find this, though," Shizune said. She held up a jacket, Hinata's to be precise. Naruto stared off into nothing.

"You are all dismissed," He said mechanically. Naruto trudged home, and collapsed on his bed.

That night, Hinata was sitting in her cell again. She looked up as a plate of food was shoved inside.

"Eat up," said one guard. He smirked.

_Let's see, no poison in the bread, even though it is stale. The water... ah, three herbs that, when mixed correctly, can force someone to tell the truth to any question asked. Guess there's no water for me tonight, _Hinata thought. She dumped out the water.

Lying on the ground, Hinata drifted into her mindscape. She opened her eyes to a familiar field of sunflowers. She lay in the field for a bit before deciding her actions.

_I wonder if...no, I probably don't have enough chakra for that jutsu...but, it's worth a shot... _Hinata thought. She stood, and formed hand seals.

"Ninpou: Omoi Hokousha."

Hinata's mind warped into a different place. She was now in a sewer in front of a cage.

**"Why hello there, little human,"** said a voice from inside. Two blood red eyes cracked open.

"Yoko-san," Hinata acknowledged.

**"And I suppose you are that Hyuuga girl, my container's mate?"**

"Yes."

"HINATA!" yelled a familiar voice.

"Naruto-kun..." Naruto ran over and embraced her.

"I've been so worried! How are you here?" Naruto asked.

"Well, a few months ago, and placed a bit of my chakra on you, essentially tying me to you. It was for this jutsu I developed, but the catch is that only my mind is here. I haven't had the need for it until now."

"That's great!" Naruto said, tails swishing.

"Naruto-kun...why do you have two tails?"

**"That would be my doing. I've decided that because Naruto may need to seal Madara, that I will make him a hanyou. Normally, the reason some techniques are kinjutsu is because they are either too taxing on your chakra supply, or they require your life. Now, if Naruto were to seal Madara, Shinigami would want a soul in payment. But, I believe that Naruto should live. Hence the reason that I would give my soul for his."**

"Why would you do that?" Hinata asked confusedly.

**"Madara killed my family, so I want him dead."**

"Ah."

"Now, Hinata-chan, how are we going to rescue you?"

"The Akatsuki hold me in a base, inside a cell. I have two guards that watch me around the clock, and occasionally the visit from a member. Oh, when I was being interrogated, there was something interesting that I uncovered..."

_-Flashback-_

_Hinata sat tied to a chair. Pein stood in front of her, asking questions. Every time she refused to answer, he would activate a seal on her back. The seal caused Hinata pain, not physically, but mentally. After three hours of torture, Pein sighed, and turned Hinata over to Itachi. Itachi looked straight into Hinata's eyes._

_"Tsukuyomi."_

_Hinata reappeared in a different world. Itachi stood in front of her, and there was a blood red moon in the sky. Hinata tensed, wondering why she wasn't tied up._

_"Relax, Hinata-san, I'm not here to torture you. I thought you would have known that from our last encounter," Itachi said. He sat by Hinata, and motioned for her to sit as well._

_"Why are you helping me?" asked Hinata._

_"Things are not always as they seem. I am not loyal to Akatsuki, I am a spy for Jiraiya-sama."_

_"I see. What are we doing here, then?"_

_"I will help you escape, but you must not tell anyone of me."_

_"What about Naruto-kun and Yoko-san?"_

_"Yoko?"_

_"Kyuubi's real name."_

_"You may tell them, and them only, alright?" Hinata nodded._

_"Very well then, within the next two months, the Akatsuki will be preparing to capture Naruto-kun. He will need to be strong enough to take on Pein by then. If he succeeds in killing Pein, Uchiha Madara will go into hiding for another month. After that month is over, Madara will come for Naruto."_

_"Naruto-kun and Yoko-san are preparing for that."_

_"Good. Now, I need you to get out of here, or else they will use you as a bargaining chip. I will help you escape, but Naruto-kun will need to be close by the help you get home. You will need to be awake at midnight three days from now. At that time, I will help you escape protection via Genjutsu. Do you understand?"_

_"Yes."_

_"I will have to knock you out, or else they will believe something is up."_

_-End Flashback-_

"Sou ka. I will be there, Hinata-chan, don't worry."

**"I'll make sure you guys get out of there safe."**

"Arigato, Yoko-san.

Three days had passed since Hinata's encounter with Itachi. She waited expectantly in her cell at midnight. A soft creak indicated the door being opened.

"Hinata-san, come," Itachi said. He motioned for her to come over. Inserting the key into the chains, Itachi unlocked them, and Hinata placed them on the ground. She grabbed Itachi's shoulder, and he formed several hand signs.

"Genjutsu: Ka Yume." Itachi formed another set of seals and whispered,

"Doton: Sensuikan."

Hinata and Itachi sunk into the ground. They traveled through the ground to the agreed meeting spot. Once there, Hinata and Itachi rose from the ground. Looking around to make sure that no one was there, Naruto stepped out of the bushes.

"Arigato, Itachi," said Naruto. Itachi produced a scrool from his cloak.

"You are welcome. Please, give this to Jiraiya-sama as soon as possible. It contains more information on Akatsuki," Itachi requested.

"Will do."

A rustle in the bushes caught their attention. Itachi went back to the base the same way he came, and Hinata and Naruto shushined away. Once they were far enough, they began running. Unknown to them, a few Akatsuki members were sent out to look for them.

"Kuso!" Naruto said as he picked up the chakra of two members headed their way. "Yoko, now would be a good time for help..."

**"Onijutsu: Heki Riariti."**

A thin sheet of demonic chakra encased them, and changed their appearance. Naruto was now a black haired, black-eyed young man wearing a Kusa headband. Hinata morphed into a purple haired, brown-eyed young woman wearing a Kusa headband as well. Naruto and Hinata changed course to make it look like they were heading to Kusa.

"Ah, what do we have here?" said a male voice. It was Kisame. Hinata held their breath as the pair drew near.

"Kisame, these two are not the people we are looking for. Why should we waste time when we should be looking for the escaped girl?" asked Itachi.

"But look at that girl! She could be the Hyuuga in disguise!" Hinata tensed, he had hopefully not realized the Genjutsu.

**Calm down, girl. Do not underestimate the power of a demon, **spoke Yoko in her mind. Hinata calmed down.

Itachi's eyes spun, he was looking for Genjutsu.

"There is no Genjutsu on her." Itachi and Kisame left, and Hinata and Naruto sigh in relief.

"I think it is safe to Hirashin, Hina-chan." In a flash of light, Naruto and Hinata reappeared in Uzugakure. They had appeared in Naruto's office. Suddenly, SPIRAL members surrounded them.

"Kusa-nin, I would advise you to leave at once. If you do not, you will be forced," said a familiar captain.

"Ohayo, Ten Ten-chan!" said Hinata. She went to hug her, but was held back by other SPIRAL members.

"Why are you...oh, Naruto-kun, please release the Genjutsu," Hinata requested.

"But Hinata-chan, I wanted to scare them!"

"I think we already did."

Meanwhile, the spectators watched as the image around the two shattered like glass.

"Hinata..." Kurenai said. She ran as fast as she could eight months pregnant to Hinata and promptly crushed her to death in a hug. Tsunade did the same to Naruto.

"Need...air...for continued...existence," Naruto croaked out.

"Damn you brat! How dare you run off like that! You had us all worried! Plus what would have happened if you were caught?"

"What, it's not like Hinata and I couldn't take them," Naruto retorted. "Anyways, Hinata has come across some interesting information. Would you like to share, Hinata?"

"Sure. But first, Jiraiya, you can come out of hiding..." Hinata said to the wall. The form of the toad sannin materialized out of the wall.

"Ah, I guess my skills are getting worse. So, any news?" Naruto handed Itachi's scroll to Jiraiya. Tucking it into his clothing, Jiraiya paid attention to Hinata.

"Well, Pein is planning on attacking within two months. If Naruto succeeds in killing him, the next opponent we will have is Uchiha Madara. Madara will come to get him about a month after Pein is defeated," Hinata said.

"There you have it. You are all dismissed; we will see you tomorrow for training. Jiraiya, I would like you to come to our house with us," Naruto requested. Hinata and Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulders, and they Hirashined to their house. Once inside Naruto's office, he placed a silencing seal in the walls.

"Now, from what I understand, when you were younger, you taught three orphans. Would you like to tell us about them?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya sighed.

"Many years back, I taught three orphans, Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko. They needed skills to survive in Ame's deadly civil war. Konan showed promise of using paper jutsu and origami for battle. Yahiko used water jutsu, and asked me to teach him some kenjutsu. Nagato awakened a dojutsu while protecting his comrades in an attack. He activated the Rinnegan, a dojutsu unseen since the Sage of Six Paths. I assumed that they had died when Hanzo, Ame's leader, chose to kill them. But, it appears that only Yahiko died."

"What did they look like?" asked Hinata.

"Well, Konan had blue hair and amber eyes, Nagato had red hair and grayish-purple eyes with rings in them, and Yahiko had orange hair and brown eyes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when Pein interrogated me, he had orange hair and grayish-purple eyes that had rings in them." Jiraiya gasped.

"Nagato...you used his body, didn't you?" Jiraiya thought aloud.

"What do you mean 'you used his body?'" asked Naruto.

"Well, the possessor of the Rinnegan has the ability to use the corpses of people. Each body has the ability to use a different power."

"I see. How do you know all of this?"

"When Nagato awakened his Rinnegan, I sought out some old scrolls detailing the Sage of Six Paths' power. If you want, I still have them."

"That would be much appreciated." Jiraiya performed several hand seals, and a strange toad was summoned. It had the body of a toad, but a scroll was where the belly should be.

"Please unseal the scrolls on the Rinnegan, Hokan." Two scrolls popped out. "Arigato."

Naruto picked up the scrolls.

"This first one is the history of the Sage of Six Paths. The second details some of the abilities of the Rinnegan. If that is all, I will be going."

Naruto studied the scrolls for a few hours, and then went to bed. Once he fell asleep, Naruto met with Yoko.

"Yoko, I have a question to ask you..."

**"What is it?"**

"Well, If Pein is going after anyone with ties to me or who knows anything about me, I need your help in finding everyone and hiding them."

**"Well, there is one demonic jutsu that you could use to see inside their heart to see exactly what they think. Would you like to teach it to you?"**

"Hai."

Kyuubi taught Naruto the jutsu, and he practiced it everyday. A month passed, and Naruto continued to change. Kyuubi sped up the transformation so that he could be a full hanyou by the time Madara came. As of now, Naruto had three tails.

Then devastating news reached Naruto in the form of a toad. Jiraiya had gone to battle with Pein by himself, in an attempt to protect Naruto. Before he died, Jiraiya sent a coded message to Naruto on Fukasaku's back.

"Jiraiya, you idiot!" Naruto cried as he stood on the balcony of his house. Hinata comforted him. "Pein, when I see you, you will pay for Jiraiya's death! I swear it!"


	8. Conflict

The next day Naruto and Hinata set out for Konoha. He asked Yoko to cast a demonic genjutsu over them, and it changed them into ANBU that was returning from a mission. Naruto even had a scroll transformed into orders from the Hokage.

_Slipping in was easy enough, now to find the people that don't deserve to die._

"Onijutsu: Shinri Suitougakari," Naruto whispered. Suddenly, a mark that only Naruto could see appeared on the foreheads of the innocent. Stealthily tagging all of the people marked, Naruto was about to make his way out of Konoha when an explosion occurred. Naruto pressed himself against a wall in the shadows and concealed his chakra.

_What was that? _Naruto thought.

**Kit! Kit! Pein tracked you here; he's going to tear Konoha apart looking for you! You need to get the entire group of innocents out of Konoha before they die!**

Naruto immediately began seeking out the people he had marked. Among the people selected were Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.

"Hey guys, you need to get out of here. Come back with me to Uzugakure, alright?" Naruto said.

"Sure, Naruot-niichan!" replied Konohamaru enthusiasctically.

**Now, you're going to need to draw a seal, so get some ink and a brush.**

Naruto painted the seal, and then pushed chakra into it to send the people to Uzugakure. Once he had done that, He turned to Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, I need to fight Pein. Even if Konoha is not worth saving, I need to kill him in order to keep Uzugakure safe. Just...don't get hurt, alright? Stay here, I don't want you getting hurt."

"But-"

"No buts! You will do as I say! I want to protect you, Hinata, I don't know how I would live with myself if you died today…"

"Alright, I won't stay here but I will stay out of your battle."

A very loud explosion was heard overhead. Naruto shushined out to check it out.

_What the hell was that?_

**That would be Deva Pein's technique, Shinra Tensei. You need to challenge Pein now; Deva Pein will be weak from casting it.**

Naruto followed the shadows to where Pein was, and summoned three giant foxes.

**"Greetings, Naruto-sama. What would you like help with?" **asked the oldest.

"Jikoku, Riki, Hannya, I need you to take on the Animal path and its summons. I'll fight the Preta, Human, Deva, and Naraka Paths for now."

**"Hai."**

Naruto summoned four extra durable shadow clones, and disappeared. He reappeared behind the Preta path, and struck it with a chakra-enhanced punch. The clones went to work distracting the other four bodies.

_Tsunade-baachan, thanks for teaching me that, _Naruto thought. The Preta path flew back, before landing harshly in the dirt. It quickly stood, seemingly unfazed.

_Damn, he absorbed the chakra! Guess I have to use only taijutsu, _Naruto thought angrily. He slid into his primary form of taijutsu, the Oniken, or Demon style. He charged forward, using his speed and strength to gain an advantage. Naruto rained blow after blow on the Preta path in order to tire him out. It worked, but not to the extent that Naruto was hoping for. He lept back after several more blows.

_Well, since taijutsu didn't work, let's see how kenjutsu does._

Naruto drew his sword, and rushed forward to meet the Preta path in battle. He slashed several times, before his sword met flesh and drew blood. Smirking, Naruto swung again, catching the Preta path a making a large cut on its abdomen. Blood leaked out, and the Preta path tried to restrain Naruto.

Naruto dodged, but then the Preta path followed up with a punch to Naruto's stomach. It sent him flying, and his blade flew from his hand. Landing several feet away, Naruto tried to get it, but was blocked by the Preta path.

_Guess it's back to taijutsu._

Naruto furiously rained blows on the Preta path, not letting up lest it get the advantage. The Preta path blocked most of the blows, but then Naruto changed strategies. He sent several kicks to the path, and then roundhouse kicked him away. Darting toward his blade, Naruto grabbed it. Just as the Preta path was about to engage Naruto again, a blade pierced its heart, killing it.

_Damn, that was hard. Maybe I should become more of an all-rounder. Anyway, I need to get rid of the Naraka path, or it will restore the bodies. How to do that...Ah ha! I know..._

Naruto Kaiwarmied the clone that was fighting with the Naraka path. He then summoned up a large amount of fire chakra, and spun it into a Rasengan.

"Katon: Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, driving the rasengan into the ground. It tore away at the ground, and flames shot out away from Naruto. Other than a few moderate burns, the Naraka path escaped unharmed.

As the dust settled from Naruto's rasengan, he dashed forward, slipping a paper out of his puch and slapping it on the path. The paper had a distortion seal on it, which messed up the Naraka's chakra. It then resorted to taijutsu, which Naruto matched him at.

Using the clone from before, Naruto double-teamed the path, killing it with a chakra blow to the temple. Blood dripped from the Naraka's mouth as it slumped to the ground dead.

Naruto summoned up a demonic genjutsu that Kyuubi had taught him.

"Onijutsu: Seikei Takai!" A cloud of midnight black fog encompassed Naruto and the three paths left. Gathering up chakra in his hand quickly, a screeching sound was heard. Naruto closed his eyes, and threw the Rasenshuriken straight at the Human path. The path couldn't avoid it, but the Asura path pushed it out of the way and got shredded instead.

_Well, that wasn't the path I was aiming for, but it'll work._

Working with the distraction that the cloud gave, Naruto several ninjutsu in an attempt to kill off the Human path. Naruto stunned it with a lightning jutsu, and then threw poisoned senbon at it, courtesy of Shizune. The Human path attempted to dodge, but was hit, and the fast-acting poison left it dead.

When Naruto could no longer hold the fog jutsu, he released it, leaving himself, two clones, and his summons.

_Now, the most annoying one is left...Chakra Seal, Full Release!_

"Hey guys, how're you doing with the Animal path?" Naruto yelled to his summons as he jumped back.

**"We've finished, Naruto-sama. Now we shall help you with the last," **replied Riki. Naruto charged up his second Rasenshuriken. Throwing it at the Deva path, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

_'Gotcha...' _Naruto thought.

_'My power is back...and just in time...' _thought Deva Pein. He concentrated on the Rasenshuriken, and it disappeared. Naruto was shocked. The three foxes leaped at Deva Pein, but were blown back by Pein's Shinra Tensei. Flying out of the battleground, they dispersed back to their summoning plane.

Naruto lay gasping on the ground. He had used up all of his chakra, and couldn't draw on Yoko's. Pein walked up to him, and stabbed him with metal rods. Without the help of Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto could do nothing.

_Damn it! The only way to get out of these is to use hanyou form, but Madara is probably watching, and I can't let him know that I have become a hanyou. Yoko? _Naruto asked.

**Well kit, I believe your mate has your problem solved.** Kyuubi replied.

Meanwhile, Hinata looked out to the battleground, searching for her husband. When she spotted him, she gasped.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata jumped up, and rushed out to the battleground. Landing next to Naruto, she stood in front of him protectively.

"Hinata-chan...get...out of...here. Pein...will kill...you..." Naruto said, coughing up blood.

"No."

"Nani! But..."

"No buts."

Hinata yanked a rod from Naruto's body, and broke another. When Pein realized what she was doing, he used a Shinra Tensei on her. Crashing to the ground, Hinata landed and spit out blood. She turned, and ran at Pein. But before she could get there, Hinata stopped and pulled out another rod. Pein used a second Shinra Tensei, and she shot into the air. She landed next to Pein on her stomach.

Dodging quickly, Hinata slid into her Kawaken stance. She rushed at Pein, but was blown back once more. Hinata quickly fired off many kunai and shuriken, but all of them were caught or blown away.

_Damn, how do I kill this stupid path!_ Hinata thought angrily. She shushined to Naruto, pulling out the last of the rods, when Pein pulled her to him. He held a rod in front of him, which he stabbed Hinata on.

_'Ashiteru, Naruto-kun...'_ was Hinata's last thought before her world went black. As soon as she was deemed unconscious, the Deva Pein cast her aside like an unwanted nuisance.

Seeing Hinata like that hurt Naruto deeply. Kyuubi chakra flooded Naruto's system, and his last thought to Kyuubi before the bloodlust was,

_Don't let me use hanyou form…_

Opening his blood red eyes, Naruto stood. Red chakra flared, and he soon gained six tails. Pein saw this, and retreated closer to his body, in order to control it better. Naruto gave chase, and shot red chakra at him.

Naruto fought with the Deva Pein, and furiously tried to kill him. His mind was fogged up with thoughts of revenge, and he couldn't think clearly. The only thing that registered was to kill Pein. As time progressed, Pein began to tire. His stamina and chakra did not even measure up to Yoko's.

Leaving an opening, Naruto stabbed Pein with one of the eight tails he had. The demonic chakra entered Pein, and began poisoning his body. Just as Naruto was about to mutilate the body and find Nagato's, Yoko pulled him into his mindscape.

"**Kit! This is no way to behave! You are starting to act like that Uchiha when his older brother is mentioned! Just kill him, dammit, don't mutilate his body!" **Yoko yelled.

"Just shut up already!"

Naruto returned to the real world. He saw Deva Pein's body on the ground, slowly dying from the demonic chakra. Then he realized something about the piercings.

_Hey Yoko, if I use your eyes, will I be able to trace Nagato's chakra signature to where he is?_

**Yes, you should be able to find him.**

Naruto made sure that the body was dead before taking a piercing to follow Nagato's chakra. Whit help from Yoko, he found Nagato in a cave in a mountain near Konoha.

"Ah the...jinchuriki of Kyuubi...what a nice...surprise..." Nagato gasped out.

"Nagato! I'm here to kill you!"

"I...see...and why...is that?"

"You ******* killed my wife! That alone deserves judgement! Not to mention Jiraiya, and the people I swore to protect that you would kill if you stayed alive!" Naruto yelled.

"Ah..." Nagato fired a chakra disruption blade at Naruto. It stabbed him, and started messing with his chakra. Ripping the blade from his body, Naruto walked forward. Konan, who had been watching from the shadows, prepared to fight if anything happened.

"After I kill you, I'll be preparing to kill Madara. Then finally the major threats will be out of the way."

Nagato coughed up blood.

"How...do you...know about...Madara?" Nagato asked.

"Well...I do have a nine thousand year old demon residing within me."

Naruto walked up to Nagato. Before Konan could move, he shot a water jutsu at her. She became wet, unable to use her paper. Immeadiatly following that, Naruto trapped her with a web of demonic chakra. Placing his hands on Nagato's head, Naruto pumped in demonic chakra.

"Nagato!" Konan yelled, furiously stuggling. Each time she struggled, the chakra burnt her skin and clothes.

Nagato's eyes drifted shut, and his heart stopped. Looking at the scene with sad eyes, Konan spoke.

"I understand why you had to do what you did. Nagato, Yahiko, and myself were once in a similar position."

"Then why did you fight me, if you understood me?"

"When he was living, I was willing to do anything and everything to keep Nagato safe. I knew his health was deteriorating, and that he had not much longer to live."

"How do I know that you aren't lying?"

"Because if I was, I would have alerted all Akatsuki close enough to reach us."

"But...if you're not going to kill me, what about Akatsuki's goals?" Naruto asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm done with Akatsuki. Nagato and Yahiko were my whole life, and that is the only reason I stayed. You are always welcome in Amegakure, Naruto-san," Konan replied. She disappeared, along with the bodies of Nagato and Yahiko.

He failed to notice a pair of Sharingan eyes peering out from the darkness. With a dark laugh, a man disappeared.

_Hinata-chan!_ Naruto thought. He rushed back to Konoha as soon as possible. Running over to where Hinata lay, Naruto saw her coughing up blood. He grabbed her in a hug, as tears streamed down his face. Hinata's hands glowed green as she healed her injuries.

"Ashiteru, Hinata-chan, Ashiteru, Ashiteru, Ashiteru..."

"Ashiteru, Naruto-kun..."

"But don't EVER do something like that again, you hear me? I thought I lost you..." Naruto scolded. Hinata giggled, but stopped when she heard people approaching.

"Ah, so the damned traitor is back in Konoha..." said a familiar girl with pink hair.

"Bakemono, I can't believe you are back here," said a man with a duck-butt hairstyle.

"You probably ******* lead Pein here to kill us, didn't you?" accused Sakura

"I can't believe you people! Naruto saves your ***, and this is how you repay him?" Hinata shouted at them.

"Well, you would take his side anyway, _Namikaze-sama_..." replied Sakura sarcastically.

"Would you like to say that again? Because if you do, I'll gladly disable your voice box...permanently this time," Hinata said.

"Hinata...it's not worth it," Naruto said. He slipped an arm around her waist to support her. As the turned their backs, Sakura flung a kunai at them. Hinata caught it, and turned to glare at them.

"That is an attempt at a fellow kage's life. Right now, Naruto and I have the power to convict you and sentence you to death. However, we have more pressing matters to tend to. I'm also glad Naruto and I escaped to Uzugakure. If this is the way Konoha treats its heroes, I wouldn't want to live here," Hinata said. The duo turned away, and sped off towards Uzugakure.


	9. Triumph

Naruto and Hinata arrived in Uzugakure the next day. People they had rescued from Konoha gave them their thanks, and Uzu villagers greeted their Kage. Making their way to Naruto's office, several things were on their mind. Once Naruto and Hinata got to Naruto's office, their was a summon waiting for them. A weasel sat on Naruto's desk, blinking its eyes at him.

"Naruto-sama, Itachi-sama has a letter for you, he told me to guard it with my life, so it must be important. Oh, forgive me, I am Koinu," the weasel spoke.

"Arigato, Koinu. Return to your master and tell him I have received the letter."

Sitting in his chair, Naruto opened the message.

_Naruto-kun,_

_Madara is very upset that you killed Pein. He is building up his strength, seeing as he has all eight of the Bijuu. I suggest you evacuate you people he will surely attack soon._

Itachi

Naruto gave the letter to Hinata to read, and summoned a SPIRAL member.

"Wolf-san, give the order to all available ninja that they are to prepare for an attack. Genin and Chunin are to guard the villagers, while the Jonin and SPIRAL members are to get all of the supplies they need," Naruto commanded.

"Hai."

"Naruto-kun, what are you going to do?" Hinata asked.

"I will have to wait until he comes to me. I am not going to seek him out if I am the one he wants. Oh, there is one thing…I want you to stay away from the battle."

"Why?"

"Hinata-chan, you may not know, but my eyes are more sensitive then a humans. I don't want our child getting hurt…"

"What?"

"You heard me right. If you are in too much stress, you may miscarry the baby. Please…for my sake…stay away from the battle…"

"Very well…"

One Week Later

At five o' clock in the morning, one of the scouts on Uzugakure's walls spotted a large animal outside the city. The air was thick with killing intent, and whatever the animal was it was very evil. He shushined into Naruto's office.

"Uzukage-sama! Uzukage-sama! There is…something big and evil outside the gates! Come quickly!" The scout shushined back, and showed Naruto the beast.

"Youkai, alright. Sound the alarm!"

A signal sounded throughout the village, and all of the ninja that were fighting in the battle assembled. Some dashed out to the walls, and others come with Naruto to battle the beast. Naruto charged, covering himself in a cloak of Demonic chakra. Inside his head, Yoko's voice sounded.

**Kit! Release the beasts from their chains, and they will reappear in my realm. You have to do the Onijutsu: Kagi Dzuki Sono Omoi in order to gain access to its mind. Start with Ichibi, he should be easiest.**

The seals flashed trough Naruto's head, and he performed the jutsu. Once inside Shukaku's mind, Naruto looked for the actual beast. Rounding a corner, Naruto spotted Shukaku in chains. The chains had the symbol of Madara's Mangekyo Sharingan on them.

"Go away…**No! Naruto-sama help…**Shut up you imbecile**…help me!"** said Shukaku in two different voices.

_Yoko, what do I do now?_

**Paint this seal over each of the Mangekyo symbols and then insert youkai into each one…it should break his control.**

A symbol passed through Naruto's mind, and he quickly painted over each symbol. He inserted youkai, and they glowed crimson red before disappearing. The control over Shukaku faded with an anguished howl.

"**Arigato, Naruto-sama, you are truly worthy of Yoko's throne. Be warned, though, not all of the Bijuu will be this easy. The severity of Madara's control depends on the Bijuu's mind. If their mind is weaker, you will be able to free them easily, but the stronger the mind, the more power Madara put into containing them. I know that in order to unseal Neko-chan, you will have to fight a guardian. Good luck!"**

Naruto was thrust back into the real world, and looked around. Shukaku disappeared, but this time, Nekomata and Kyodaigame both appeared.

"Aw, damn, really! I guess I'll start with Neko."

Naruto climbed up into a tree, and then created a casing of youkai to protect him, along with a Demon genjutsu to hide him. The world disappeared, and Naruto plunged headfirst into Nekomata's mind. Once there, he looked around until he came upon Nekomata's struggling form. Before he could reach her, a person appeared out of the shadows.

"Ah, Uzumaki Naruto, how nice of you to come…" The man said. A katana blade glinted in the light.

'_If it's a kenjutsu battle he wants, it's a kenjutsu battle he'll get,'_ Naruto thought. He drew his own katana, and moved into position. Their swords clashed when both fighters dashed forward.

"**Naruto-sama! Be careful! This man is a lightning type!"**

"Urusai, Nibi!" The man said. He and Naruto exchanged blows, until the man jumped back. Gathering chakra around his body, the man charged at Naruto. He struck, and a wound appeared in Naruto's stomach. Demonic chakra quickly closed the wound, and Naruto smiled a bloodthirsty grin.

"Sorry, you'll have to do better than that to get me," Naruto said.

The man smirked, before a katana blade impaled him from behind. Dropping him to the ground, Naruto dismissed his blood clone and cleaned his sword. Walking over to Nekomata, Naruto released her.

"**Arigato, you are a great warrior Naruto-kun. Take this, it is a gift for freeing me from Madara Uchiha."**

Nibi held out a seal.

"**It has the power to revive one person from the dead, be it child or adult, villager or ninja. I believe Shinigami-sama owes me at least this favor to return someone to life after all of the lives that I gave him."**

"This will be of good use, Neko. Arigato."

Naruto jumped immediately into Kyodaigame's mind. His and Saru's, the four-tailed monkey, minds had no guardian, so Naruto passed through without problem. Kyodaigame gave Naruto information on Irukauma's guardian, that she was an earth-type, and preferred to use taijutsu. Saru gave Naruto the ability to use his lava release.

"**But be warned,"** Saru said. **"This will only last long enough for your next battle with a guardian."**

Entering Irukauma's mind, Naruto felt a punch to his gut that sent him flying. He swore, and got up to face his opponent.

"You may have freed the first four Bijuu, but the next ones will be much harder," the guardian said.

The guardian and Naruto exchanged punches and kicks before Naruto got a hit in. It was powered with youkai, so the guardian went flying. Unfortunately, the guardian got up quickly, and returned to attack. They battled with taijutsu for several minutes, before Naruto found an opening. Forming several seals, Naruto spat out lava, which consumed the guardian. He released Irukauma, and the Gobi gave him a piece of advice.

"**Rokubi and Hachibi both have guardians, while Shichibi has none. But be warned, the cost of chakra is high for Shichibi, so be careful."**

Leaping into Namekuji's mind, Naruto looked around for the guardian. Seeing none, he walked up to Rokubi when he felt a kunai in his side. Looking around for his attacker, Naruto found none. He pulsed demonic chakra, and the image around him faded.

The guardian and Naruto engaged in a genjutsu fight. Naruto constantly pulsed his chakra in order to dodge them. Unfortunately, this did not allow Naruto to use jutsu, so he had to rely on taijutsu and kenjutsu. The guardian was decidedly less skilled at the physical aspects, so Naruto had the upper hand.

Finally, Naruto managed to place a deadly genjutsu on the guardian. The guardian's mind shut down, effectively killing it. Namekuji held out a whip that was a neon green color.

"**This whip will burn anything you wish it to with acid. It can only be used by a jinchuriki, alright?"**

Naruto nodded. He then disappeared and reappeared in Kabutomushi's mind. Gobi had been right, the youkai cost of each of the eight seals was a quarter of a tail. After Naruto unlocked the seal, Kabutomushi gave Naruto one last piece of advice.

"**When you get to Kyogyu's mind, be cautious. The guardian there relies heavily on ninjutsu, and if you can disable its arms, you will be able to win."**

One last time, Naruto activated the jutsu. He blinked, and found himself inside Kyogyu's mind. Suddenly, a pillar of fire raced towards him. The fire engulfed him, but Yoko's affinity to fire made fire unable to hurt Naruto. He lept back, and formed several handsigns.

A field of lightning spread out, and the guardian lept to the ceiling to avoid it. Naruto held the jutsu, and threw several kunai at it. The projectiles forced it to let go of the ceiling, and the guardian fell into the electric field. Many volts of lightning passed through it, but that did not distract the guardian for long. It retaliated with a string of earth jutsus.

Just as Naruto dodged on jutsu, a water dragon attacked him from the other side. Naruto dodged, and pulled out the whip Namekuji had given him. He blocked a few ninjutsus with his own, before her managed to land a strike on the guardian's arm.

Inwardly, Naruto celebrated, until a wall of water crackling with lightning covered him. Yoko worked quickly to heal Naruto, who turned to look at the guardian. Holding its hand in a one-handed sign, the guardian raced over the Naruto, and tried to strike him with its glowing hand. Naruto covered his hand in chakra, before grasping the guardians. Youkai entered its body, killing it slowly.

"**Arigato, Naruto-sama. Before you face Madara, I have a piece of information and a gift for you to use. Madara uses a space-time jutsu, allowing him to transport all or parts of his body to different places. However, if you manage to damage his Tsukiyomi technique, you will trap him in there."**

Naruto opened his eye to the real world. The land surrounding the village, and parts of the wall had been broken, but mostly the village was still intact. Before Naruto went to challenge Madara, he spread his chakra in a field over Uzugakure to detect people. He searched for one person in particular.

In the west side of Uzugakure, Hinata hid behind a partially collapsed building. Several Akatsuki underlings were still fighting, and Uzu's ninja challenged them.

_I know Naruto said to stay in the shelter, but I can't just sit there and do nothing! As long as I stay hidden, I should be okay, _Hinata thought.

She formed hand signs before placing a genjutsu on one of the underlings. Suddenly, a fairly large chakra source dropped behind her. Turning, Hinata came face to face with Zetsu, the Akatsuki's spy.

"**Ah, who do we have here? **Seems that our little escapee wants to fight. **But we can't let that happen, can we?" **Zetsu said. He punched Hinata, who flew into the air and out into the street.

"Lady Hinata!"

"Hinata-sama!"

Many of the shinobi who were not fighting immediately tried to aid Hinata. Zetsu merely commanded vines to hold them back.

"Why don't I show you **what the Akatsuki does with prisoners **who escape," Zetsu said, smirking. Roses shot out of the ground, their vines attacking Hinata. Thorns cut her skin as Hinata tried to defend. She formed several signs before calling out,

"Katon: Hi Kusabana!" Flames erupted around the roses, burning them to ashes. Hinata unsheathed her katana and charged at Zetsu. She sliced, and he brought up vines to protect himself. This continued on for several minutes before Hinata changed tactics.

She put her katana back, and slid into her taijutsu form. Blue chakra covered her hands in a slight glow, and Hinata charged forward. She struck at Zetsu several times before one hit connected. Blood spurted from Zetsu's mouth, and Hinata quickly formed hand signs for another fire jutsu.

"Katon: Makai Hi!" A white-hot fire struck at Zetsu, scorching the ground in between them. A pained yell erupted from his lips, before Zetsu collapsed. At the same time, a vine struck through Hinata's abdomen, and she collapsed.

Uzu ninja came directly to her aid. A medic healed the wounds Hinata had, but she knew that her baby couldn't have possibly survived that. Tears slipped down Hinata's face as she cried out in pain.

_Since there is no reason to stay behind now, I can at least see if Naruto is okay. Please, Kami, I can't live without him, _Hinata thought as she rushed to the front gate. What she saw almost made her puke.

Dead bodies littered the ground, and at the middle of them, Madara Uchiha. Up in his tree, rage bubbled up inside Naruto, and he transformed into his hanyou form. Rushing towards Madara, Naruto roared. He looked up, and saw Naruto, but then simply transported to a different place. Naruto growled, and formed a Demonic Rasengan. Smashing it towards Madara, he simply transported again.

"Ah ah ah, Naruto-kun, wouldn't want to get hurt, would we?" Madara taunted.

Naruto drew his sword, and pulsed youkai through it. Their swords clashed, and sparks appeared. Naruto and Madara exchanged blows, until Madara got one in. He wounded Naruto deeply across his chest, which made Naruto stumble.

"Like it? I formed my sword specially to negate the effects of a jinchuriki's youkai cloak. It comes in very handy, like now."

"Damn you to hell."

Naruto pushed himself up, and charged. Madara swiped at him, but he disappeared in a rain of youkai. Behind him, Naruto wrapped his whip around the sword, jerking it to him. He overloaded it with chakra, and it burst into flames.

Madara and Naruto then exchanged jutsu, one right after another. Naruto managed to cut off Madara's leg in a stroke of luck. But then, the next moment Madara burned Naruto's back badly. Naruto fell to the ground, and Madara looked into his eyes.

Naruto appeared in a world of black and red. Her was tied to a cross, and Madara walked up to him.

"Now, the real torture begins."

For several hours, Naruto was tormented by the death of the people closest to him. Then, they came back from the dead and scorned him.

"Why didn't you save us?" asked Ten Ten.

"You abandoned us, just like your _mother_," said Hikari.

"Why, Naruto-kun, why? Why did you kill me and our child?" asked Hinata.

Tears streamed down Naruto's cheeks, and he gave a scream of anguish. Retreating to his mind, Naruto consulted Yoko.

_Yoko, I can't take it anymore! How do I kill Madara?_

**Well, there is one theory. Use the Onijutsu: Heki Shikyo. It should fool him into thinking you are dead for about…fifteen seconds. In that time, he will check to make sure you are dead, and that is when you destroy his eye. Insert my chakra, and then do the Shiki Fuuin. Seal Madara into me, and I will give my life for the payment.**

_Onijutsu: Heki Shikyo._

Naruto's body collapsed, and his heart stopped beating. He no longer breathed, and Madara truly though he was dead. But, when he went over to check, Naruto sprung back up, and sliced his eye with a kunai. Forming the seals quickly, Naruto summoned Kyuubi to hold down Madara. He then summoned the Shinigami.

"**Shinigami-sama, I, the Kyuubi, offer my soul to you on the condition that this man, Uchiha Madara, will never walk the Earth again."**

"And I, Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuriki to Kyuubi no Yoko, offer all of my chakra to help seal Uchiha Madara."

"**A very good offer…I will accept it, since you are so self-sacrificing, and since Uchiha Madara has walked the mortal plane too long."**

In a flash of bright light, Kyuubi and Uchiha Madara disappeared, leaving no trace. Hinata jumped off of the wall, and ran directly for her husband.

"NARUTO!"

Weakly, Naruto turned his head towards her voice. Hinata knelt next to him, stoking his bloodied hair away from his face.

"Hina…ta…I told…you…to stay-" Naruto started.

"I know," Hinata said, tears forming in her eyes a splashing onto Naruto's face. "I thought I would be okay…a ridiculous move on my part. Zetsu…Zetsu stabbed me, and I don't think that it could have survived that."

"It'll…be…alright…"

With the last of his strength, Naruto placed Nibi's seal on Hinata's stomach. Using his demonic chakra, Naruto activated it. The seal glowed red before disappearing into Hinata's skin. Several ninja rushed up to their leader, and Naruto heard Hinata call his name again before everything went black.


	10. Epilogue

Eight Months Later

In the months following Madara's attack, Uzugakure had been slowly rebuilding itself. The walls and buildings had been repaired, and all of the ninja that perished in the attack were given an honorable burial.

Naruto had gone into a coma when he used the Shiki Fuuin on Madara. No one knew when he was going to wake, but the citizens certainly hoped it would be soon. Hinata had gotten better with the support of her friends. She got over the depression of losing her baby, and the anxiety of seeing her husband in a coma.

Kurenai had a healthy baby boy, whom she named Toshiro. She had heard about Hinata, and was a mother figure to the girl. However, on a crisp, clear morning, something unexpected happened.

Hinata awoke to a jolt of pain through her stomach, something worse than she had ever felt in the field.

"KURENAI!" Hinata yelled. Kurenai, who was living with Hinata for the moment, burst into the room. Hinata held a hand to her stomach, and she grit her teeth in pain.

_It's times like this when I wish I were a medic-nin,_ Hinata thought as Kurenai shushined her to the hospital.

"It's okay Hinata, I'll get Lady Tsunade," Kurenai said soothingly. She returned moments later with the Slug Princess.

"All right Hinata, let's see what's up," Tsunade said, helping her onto an examination table. Her hands began to glow green as Tsunade made a sweep of Hinata's body. But then she got to something that piqued her interest.

"Hinata…you said that you were pierced by Zetsu's vine in the battle, right?" Tsunade questioned.

"Yeah, what are you saying?" Hinata said, whimpering.

"What I'm saying, is that you are eight months pregnant and going into labor."

Hinata's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.

"B-but, th-that's not…not possible…" Hinata said, astonished.

"Is there any way you know of that this might've happened?" Tsunade asked.

"If you're implying that this is someone else's baby, then no, I would never do that to Naruto!" Hinata angrily shouted.

"Nurses! I need a labor and delivery room set up pronto!" Tsunade yelled. She helped Hinata into a wheelchair as the pain increased. She wheeled Hinata down the hall, Hinata trying to suppress her cries of pain. Several people along the way were concerned with Hinata's well being, wonder what could have afflicted their Uzukage's wife.

Once Tsunade got Hinata to the room, she put Hinata on the bed and began to help with the delivery. A scream of pain echoed throughout Uzugakure's hospital.

"Hinata-sama, please, you need to calm down," said one nurse soothingly.

"CALM DOWN? YOU TRY AND STAY CALM WHEN YOU ARE IN LABOR!" Hinata yelled.

The nurse sighed as she injected a painkiller into her system. Tsunade placed her green hands on Hinata's stomach to help soothe the contractions.

"Alright, on the count of three you need to start pushing Hinata-sama, alright? Okay one…two…three…"

Hinata gave a groan and pushed with all of her might.

"Once more Hinata-sama, ready, one…two…three…"

Across the hospital was the room of one blue-eyed, blonde-haired, comatose man. He had remained unresponsive for eight months, and everyone wanted him to wake soon. More screams of pain across the hospital, reaching him room. Inside his mind, a voice whispered,

**Get…up…kit…don't let…my memory…go to shame by…sleeping…GET UP!**

Blearily, Naruto opened his eyes and scanned the room. The nurse who was attending to him dropped her clipboard. It clattered to the ground as she helped her leader sit up.

"Naruto-sama! Are you okay?" she asked.

"Need…wa…ter," Naruto croaked. She immediately produced a glass of water, and he drank it greedily.

"Arigato…How long have I been asleep?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you have been in a coma for about eight months now," she responded. Another wail of pain reached his ears, and Naruto recognized it instantly.

"Hinata! Urg…" Naruto tried to get up and walk, but the strength left him.

"Please, don't do that! You are in no condition to move!"

"You know me, I will anyway. You could at least help me, I need to get to Hinata."

"Alright…"

Hinata pushed again, and was met with the sound of a crying infant.

"She's beautiful," said the nurse. She went to clean off the little girl, and then returned her to her mother.

"What s her name?" asked the nurse who was holding her birth certificate.

Tears welled up in Hinata's eyes as she tried to decide on a name.

"I think Megumi Kietsu Namikaze sounds nice, what…about you, Hinata-chan?" asked a voice from the doorway.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, still weak from the birth. The nurses and Tsunade left, politely giving them privacy.

The nurse handed Hinata a bundle of blankets before leaving. Peeling it back, Hinata saw the face of an angel. She had deep indigo hair like her mother and cerulean eyes like her father.

"She looks beautiful, Hinata-chan…" Naruto said, sitting in a chair.

"I didn't even know that I was pregnant…you don't seem surprised, why is that?" Hinata questioned.

"When I fought to free the bijuu, Nekomata gave me a gift. It was a seal, with the power to resurrect one person. She said it was the least Shinigami could do for how many souls she'd given him. Before I passed out, do you remember what I did?"

"You placed…a seal…on me. That was Nibi's seal, wasn't it?"

"Yes, when you told me about the baby, I knew what I would use it for."

Hinata held out the bundle to Naruto. He looked at Megumi with the pride of a father, gently taking her from Hinata.

"Ohayo, Megumi, I'm your daddy…you know, I wish I could've been there to talk to you or to help your mommy, but I guess being here now is okay…"

A nurse came in later to take Megumi for the standard newborn procedure. What she found was probably the cutest thing she would see in a while. Hinata lay in Naruto's lap on the bed, with Megumi nestled in her blankets sound asleep. Naruto stirred quietly, and looked at the two women in front of him with love.

_I guess it was worth it after all, because in the end even flames can't separate us…_


End file.
